The use of nanomaterials has raised safety concerns, as their small size facilitates accumulation in and interaction with biological tissues. Here we show that exposure of endothelial cells to TiO 2 nanomaterials causes endothelial cell leakiness. This effect is caused by the physical interaction between TiO 2 nanomaterials and endothelial cells' adherens junction protein VE-cadherin. As a result, VE-cadherin is phosphorylated at intracellular residues (Y658 and Y731), and the interaction between VE-cadherin and p120 as well as b-catenin is lost. The resulting signalling cascade promotes actin remodelling, as well as internalization and degradation of VE-cadherin. We show that injections of TiO 2 nanomaterials cause leakiness of subcutaneous blood vessels in mice and, in a melanoma-lung metastasis mouse model, increase the number of pulmonary metastases. Our findings uncover a novel non-receptor-mediated mechanism by which nanomaterials trigger intracellular signalling cascades via specific interaction with VE-cadherin, resulting in nanomaterial-induced endothelial cell leakiness.

Nanoparticles can have profound effects on cell biology. Here, we show that after TiO2, SiO2, and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles treatment, TR146 epithelial cell sheet displayed slower migration. Cells after exposure to the nanoparticles showed increased cell contractility with significantly impaired wound healing capability however without any apparent cytotoxicity. We showed the mechanism is through nanoparticle-mediated massive disruption of the intracellular microtubule assembly, thereby triggering a positive feedback that promoted stronger substrate adhesions thus leading to limited cell motility.

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Platinum(II) anticancer drug cisplatin is one of the most important chemotherapeutic agents in clinical use but is limited by its high toxicity and severe side effects. Platinum(IV) anticancer prodrugs can overcome these limitations by resisting premature aquation and binding to essential plasma proteins. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed a link between the efficacy of platinum(IV) complexes with the nature of their axial ligands, which can be modified to enhance the properties of the prodrug. The existing paradigm of employing platinum(IV) complexes with symmetrical axial carboxylate ligands does not fully exploit their vast potential. A new approach was conceived to control properties of platinum(IV) prodrugs using contrasting axial ligands via sequential acylation. We report a novel class of asymmetric platinum(IV) carboxylates based on the cisplatin template containing both hydrophilic and lipophilic ligands on the same scaffold designed to improve their aqueous properties and enhance their efficacy against cancer cells in vitro.

Nanomaterials (NMs) such as titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) and hydroxyapatite (nano-HA) are widely used in food, personal care, and many household products. Due to their extensive usage, the risk of human exposure is increased and may trigger NMs specific biological outcomes as the NMs interface with the cells. However, the interaction of nano-TiO2 and nano-HA with cells, their uptake and subcellular distribution, and the cytotoxic effects are poorly understood. Herein, we characterized and examined the cellular internalization, inflammatory response and cytotoxic effects of nano-TiO2 and nano-HA using TR146 human oral buccal epithelial cells as an in vitro model. We showed both types of NMs were able to bind to the cellular membrane and passage into the cells in a dose dependent manner. Strikingly, both types of NMs exhibited distinct subcellular distribution profile with nano-HA displaying a higher preference to accumulate near the cell membrane compared to nano-TiO2. Exposure to both types of NMs caused an elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and expression of inflammatory transcripts with increasing NMs concentration. Although cells treated with nano-HA induces minimal apoptosis, nano-TiO2 treated samples displayed approximately 28% early apoptosis after 24 h of NMs exposure. We further showed that nano-TiO2 mediated cell death is independent of the classical p53-Bax apoptosis pathway. Our findings provided insights into the potential cellular fates of human oral epithelial cells as they interface with industrial grade nano-HA and nano-TiO2.

Inorganic nanomaterials form the bulk of the nanomaterials (NMs) found in consumer products that can easily enter into the food chain, biosystems and environment. Because of their sizes and associated material characteristics, many studies have shown a fair degree of toxicity associated with these NMs. This review consolidates and discusses the nanotoxicity of three commonly found inorganic oxide NMs, namely titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and silicon dioxide. Because oxidative stress in the form of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major mediator of nanotoxicity, we have centered much of our discussion on mechanisms before and after ROS production due to these common NMs. These NMs do exhibit non-ROS effects, not as well characterized but still biologically important. The physiological transport of NMs and how they intersect with biological mechanisms that finally brought about cell death gave some insights of how these NMs might behave in biological systems and thus illustrate the impact of this new class of materials on human health.

Telomeres and telomerase appear to participate in the repair of broken DNA ends produced by oxidative damage. Arsenite is an environmental contaminant and a potent human carcinogen, which induces oxidative stress on cells via the generation of reactive oxygen species affecting cell viability and chromosome stability. It promotes telomere attrition and reduces cell survival by apoptosis. In this study, we used mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) from mice lacking telomerase RNA component (mTERC(-/-) mice) with long (early passage or EP) and short (late passage or LP) telomeres to investigate the extent of oxidative damage by comparing the differences in DNA damage, chromosome instability, and cell survival at 24 and 48 h of exposure to sodium arsenite (As3+; NaAsO2). There was significantly high level of DNA damage in mTERC(-/-) cells with short telomeres as determined by alkaline comet assay. Consistent with elevated DNA damage, increased micronuclei (MN) induction reflecting gross genomic instability was also observed. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis revealed that increasing doses of arsenite augmented the chromosome aberrations, which contributes to genomic instability leading to possibly apoptotic cell death and cell cycle arrest. Microarray analysis has revealed that As3+ treatment altered the expression of 456 genes of which 20% of them have known functions in cell cycle and DNA damage signaling and response, cell growth, and/or maintenance. Results from our studies imply that short dysfunctional telomeres impair the repair of oxidative damage caused by arsenite. The results will have implications in risk estimation as well as cancer chemotherapy.

Lagunamides A (1) and B (2) are potent cytotoxic cyclic depsipeptides isolated from the filamentous marine cyanobacterium, Lyngbya majuscula, from Pulau Hantu, Singapore. These compounds are structurally related to the aurilide-class of molecules, which have been reported to possess exquisite antiproliferative activities against cancer cells. The present study presents preliminary findings on the selectivity of lagunamides against various cancer cell lines as well as their mechanism of action by studying their effects on programmed cell death or apoptosis. Lagunamide A exhibited a selective growth inhibitory activity against a panel of cancer cell lines, including P388, A549, PC3, HCT8, and SK-OV3 cells, with IC50 values ranging from 1.6 nM to 6.4 nM. Morphological studies showed blebbing at the surface of cancer cells as well as cell shrinkage accompanied by loss of contact with the substratum and neighboring cells. Biochemical studies using HCT8 and MCF7 cancer cells suggested that the cytotoxic effect of 1 and 2 might act via induction of mitochondrial mediated apoptosis. Data presented in this study warrants further investigation on the mode of action and underscores the importance of the lagunamides as potential anticancer agents.