Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology (Dec 2019)

Using CuO nanoparticles and hyperthermia in radiotherapy of MCF-7 cell line: synergistic effect in cancer therapy

  • Hadi Esmaeili Govarchin Ghaleh,
  • Leila Zarei,
  • Bahman Mansori Motlagh,
  • Nasrollah Jabbari

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21691401.2019.1600529
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 47, no. 1
pp. 1396 – 1403

Abstract

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The aim of this paper was examining the combined impacts of CuO nanoparticles (CuO NPs), hyperthermia (H), and irradiation (R) on an increment of MCF-7 cells. The MTT assay was employed to assess the antiproliferative effects of CuO NPs (25, 50, and 100 μg/ml), hyperthermia (41 °C for 1 h), and irradiation (200 cGy). Moreover, the perniciousness was estimated through the survival capability of cells, and apoptosis, ROS production, and levels of caspase-3, -8 and -9 proteins were determined. A significant (p < .01) decrease in proliferation index (0.124 ± 0.021), a significant (p < .01) increase in apoptosis (42% ± 1.54) of MCF7 cells, a significant (p < .03) increase in ROS formation (32.16 ± 1.9) and a significant (p < .01) increase in LDH release (33.28 ± 1.56) were recorded in the adjacency of MCF-7 cells by a combination of CuO NPs (100 µg/ml) and R + H compared to control and other treatments. The activities of caspase-3 (0.33 ± 0.014) and caspase-9 (0.389 ± 0.019) also increased significantly (p < .05). However, caspase-8 showed no significant changes in its activity (p = .065). Based on these observations, a combination of CuO NPs, hyperthermia, and irradiation could suppress the growth of MCF-7 cells and evoke cell apoptosis via mitochondrial membrane potential.

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