International Journal of Nanomedicine (Oct 2020)
Polyethylene Glycol-Coated Graphene Oxide Loaded with Erlotinib as an Effective Therapeutic Agent for Treating Nasopharyngeal Cancer Cells
Abstract
Ming-Ying Lan,1,2 Yen-Bin Hsu,1,2 Ming-Chin Lan,3,4 Jyh-Ping Chen,5– 8 Yu-Jen Lu9 1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 2School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan; 4School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan; 5Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 6Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Craniofacial Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 7Research Center for Food and Cosmetic Safety, Research Center for Chinese Herbal Medicine, College of Human Ecology, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 8Department of Materials Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan; 9Department of Neurosurgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Linkuo Medical Center and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanCorrespondence: Yu-Jen LuDepartment of Neurosurgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Linkuo Medical Center and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanEmail [email protected] ChenDepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanEmail [email protected]: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common cancer in southern China and Taiwan, and radiation therapy combined with or without chemotherapy is its mainstay treatment. Although it is highly sensitive to radiotherapy, local recurrence and distant metastasis remain difficult unsolved problems. In recent years, graphene oxide (GO) has been found to be a promising novel anticancer drug carrier. Here, we present our designed functionalized GO, polyethylene glycol-coated GO (GO-PEG), as a drug carrier, which was loaded with erlotinib and showed promising anticancer effects on NPC cells.Methods: The effects of GO-PEG-erlotinib on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC cells were investigated by WST-8 assay, wound healing assay, and invasion assay, respectively. RNA sequencing was conducted and analyzed to determine the molecular mechanisms by which GO-PEG-erlotinib affects NPC cells.Results: Our results showed that GO-PEG-erlotinib reduced NPC cell viability in a dose-dependent manner and also inhibited the migration and invasion of NPC cells. The RNA sequencing revealed several related molecular mechanisms.Conclusion: GO-PEG-erlotinib effectively suppressed NPC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, likely by several mechanisms. GO-PEG-erlotinib may be a potential therapeutic agent for treating NPC in the future.Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, anti-cancer, graphene oxide, erlotinib, drug carrier
