Study on Apoptosis of Prostate Cancer Cells Induced by IκBα Overexpression Synergistic with Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid)-Curcumin Nanoparticles

Objective. To investigate the synergistic effects of IκBα overexpression and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)-curcumin nanoparticles (PLGA-Cur-NPs) on prostate cancer (PC) and reveal the underlying mechanisms of cooperative sensitization induced by curcumin. Methods. Proliferation and apoptosis rate in IκBα overexpressed and PLGA-Cur-NPs-treated PC cells were detected by MTT and flow cytometry assay. The expression levels of IκBα, apoptosis-related, and signaling proteins were measured by western blotting assay. Results. PC cell proliferation was significantly inhibited by the overexpression of IκBα. The apoptosis rate of PC cells was significantly increased at a high concentration of curcumin exposure, while the activation of NF-κB pathway was obviously inhibited. In addition, PLGA-Cur-NPs treatment synergistic with IκBα overexpression enhanced the apoptosis of PC cells by suppressing the NF-κB pathway activation. Conclusion. IκBα overexpression synergistic with PLGA-Cur-NPs could obviously inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, and suppress the activation of NF-κB pathway in PC cells. These findings may provide an experimental basis to establish the tumor gene therapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine treatment, thus promoting the clinical application of both tumor gene therapy and anti-tumor Chinese medicine.

Lipoic Acid-Modified Oligoethyleneimine-Mediated miR-34a Delivery to Achieve the Anti-Tumor Efficacy

MiR-34a, an important tumor suppressor, has been demonstrated to possess great potential in tumor gene therapy. To achieve the upregulation of miR-34a expression level, an oligoethyleneimine (OEI) derivative was constructed and employed as the carrier through the modification with lipoic acid (LA), namely LA-OEI. In contrast to OEI, the derivative LA-OEI exhibited superior transfection efficiency measured by confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry, owing to rapid cargo release in the disulfide bond-based reduction sensitive pattern. The anti-proliferation and anti-migration effects were tested after the miR-34a transfection to evaluate the anti-tumor response, using human cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa as a model. The delivery of LA-OEI/miR-34a nanoparticles could achieve obvious anti-proliferative effect caused by the induction of cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. In addition, it could inhibit the migration of tumor cells via the downregulation of MMP-9 and Notch-1 level. Overall, the LA-OEI-mediated miR-34a delivery was potential to be used as an effective way in the tumor gene therapy.

Ultrasound molecular imaging-guided tumor gene therapy through dual-targeted cationic microbubbles

A novel dual-targeted cationic microbubbles help to improve gene transfection efficiency.