In vitro and in vivo studies of a newly synthesized copper-cetyl tri-methyl ammonium bromide combined with gallium oxide nanoparticles complex as an antitumor agent against hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most leading causes of death worldwide. Previous studies reported that gallium alone and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) have antineoplastic activities; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the activity of copper-cetyl tri-methyl ammonium bromide with gallium oxide nanoparticles (Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs) against HCC by using in vitro and in vivo studies. Methods: In vitro study was performed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs and GaO-NPs on HepG-2 cell line using crystal violet dye assay. In vivo study was done on diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) induced HCC Wister rats. Rats were randomly divided into eight groups; control, Cu-CTAB, GaO-NPs, Cu-CTAB+GaONPs, DEN, DEN+Cu-CTAB, DEN+GaO-NPs and DEN+Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs. Histopathological examination of liver and biochemical parameters such as liver function markers, oxidative stress-antioxidants markers, tumor makers, apoptosis makers were studied. Results: Results obtained from in vitro study revealed that Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs and GaO-NPs affect the cell viability of HepG-2 cancer cell with IC50 0.2 µg/ml and 360 µg/ml, respectively. Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs exerted an antiproliferative effect in experimental rat models of HCC, as demonstrated both histologically, since it facilitated the tissue recovery of the damaged liver, and biochemically as showed by the reduction of liver function markers (ALT & AST), oxidative stress markers (MDA) and tumor makers (AFP,TGF-ß1,α-L-Fucosidase); while antioxidants markers (SOD), apoptosis markers (caspase-3 mRNA) and araginase activity were elevated in DEN+Cu-CTAB, DEN+GaO-NPs and DEN+Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs groups when compared to DEN group. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that both Cu-CTAB alone and/or combined with GaO-NPs exerted cytotoxic effects against DEN-induced HCC, which would in turn, speculate a possible therapeutic role of the novel Cu-CTAB+GaO-NPs compound.

Extracellular polymeric substrates of Chlorella vulgaris F1068 weaken stress of cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride on ammonium uptake.

This study investigated the influences of cetyltrimethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (CTAC), an emerging pollutant quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) in municipal effluents, on the transfer and uptake of NH4+ by Chlorella vulgaris F1068 cells removed EPS artificially (EPS-R) and coated EPS naturally (EPS-C) under different scenarios (e.g., the presence or absence of CTAC, different photoperiod sequences (light 12 h: dark 12 h or dark 12 h: light 12 h)). The results showed that the removal of EPS increased the transfer and uptake of NH4+ but the presence of EPS caged NH4+ and effectively weakened the stress of CTAC (<0.5 mg/L) on NH4+ uptake. The main mechanism was considered that CTAC in the concentration range from 0.1 to 0.5 mg/L induced an increased amount of polysaccharide and protein in EPS and thus protected algal normal physiological functions (including cell membrane permeability and glutamine synthetase activity) from the damage of CTAC (0.1 to 0.5 mg/L) regardless of the photoperiod sequences. Thereby, the findings of this study provided an insight into the role of algal EPS in transfer and uptake of nutrients under the coexisted toxics for the future algae-based sewage treatment application.