Combined Phycocyanin and Hematoporphyrin Monomethyl Ether for Breast Cancer Treatment via Photosensitizers Modified Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Inhibiting the Proliferation and Migration of MCF-7 Cells.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), combining the laser and photosensitizers to kill tumor cells, has the potential to address many current medical requirements. In this study, magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were first employed as cores and modified with oleic acid (OA) and 3-triethoxysilyl-1-propanamine. Then, the photosensitizers phycocyanin (PC) and hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME), which might be able to stimulate the cell release of reactive oxygen species after the irradiation of a near-infrared (NIR) laser, were grafted on the surface of such nanoparticles. Our results revealed the high-efficiency inhibition of breast cancer MCF-7 cells growing upon near-infrared irradiation both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, it was the synergy between the natural photosensitizers PC and the synthetic photosensitizers HMME that deeply influenced such inhibition compared to the groups that used either of these medicines alone. To utilize the combination of different photosensitive agents, our study thus provides a new strategy for breast cancer treatment.

The apoptotic pathways in the curcumin analog MHMD-induced lung cancer cell death and the essential role of actin polymerization during apoptosis.

As a mode of cell death, apoptosis could be triggered by the extrinsic, intrinsic mitochondrial and intrinsic endoplasmic reticulum pathways and actin rearrangement is needed during apoptosis. We previously found that one curcumin analog MHMD could induce A549 lung cancer cells apoptosis. But the apoptotic pathways and the actin dynamics during apoptosis are not known. Here, we detected the activation of caspase-3, -8, -9, -12, PARP and the increase ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 by western blotting in MHMD-exposed A549 cells. Alternatively, caspases inhibitors could lead to the disappearance of MHMD-eliciting nuclei fragmentation by Hoechst 33342 staining. Besides, JC-1 and DCFH-DA staining showed the fall of mitochondrial membrane potential and the release of ROS. Moreover, wound healing assay confirmed the MHMD anti-migration ability, which was much more effective than curcumin. Importantly, unlike other anticarcinogenic drugs, MHMD might induce the actin polymerization but not depolymerization in the process of A549 cell apoptosis by phalloidin-FITC staining, which is essential to MHMD-induced extrinsic, intrinsic mitochondrial and intrinsic ER pathways of cell apoptosis.