International Journal of Nanomedicine (Oct 2017)
Supercritical carbon dioxide-developed silk fibroin nanoplatform for smart colon cancer therapy
Abstract
Maobin Xie,1,2,* Dejun Fan,3,* Yi Li,4 Xiaowen He,3 Xiaoming Chen,1,2 Yufeng Chen,3 Jixiang Zhu,1,2 Guibin Xu,5 Xiaojian Wu,3 Ping Lan3 1School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China; 2Key Laboratory of Oral Medicine, Guangzhou Institute of Oral Disease, Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China;3Department of Colorectal Surgery, Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; 4School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; 5Department of Urology, Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: To deliver insoluble natural compounds into colon cancer cells in a controlled fashion.Materials and methods: Curcumin (CM)–silk fibroin (SF) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by solution-enhanced dispersion by supercritical CO2 (SEDS) (20 MPa pressure, 1:2 CM:SF ratio, 1% concentration), and their physicochemical properties, intracellular uptake efficiency, in vitro anticancer effect, toxicity, and mechanisms were evaluated and analyzed.Results: CM-SF NPs (<100 nm) with controllable particle size were prepared by SEDS. CM-SF NPs had a time-dependent intracellular uptake ability, which led to an improved inhibition effect on colon cancer cells. Interestingly, the anticancer effect of CM-SF NPs was improved, while the side effect on normal human colon mucosal epithelial cells was reduced by a concentration of ~10 µg/mL. The anticancer mechanism involves cell-cycle arrest in the G0/G1 and G2/M phases in association with inducing apoptotic cells.Conclusion: The natural compound-loaded SF nanoplatform prepared by SEDS indicates promising colon cancer-therapy potential. Keywords: supercritical, silk fibroin, nanoparticle, natural compounds, colon cancer
