Selective inhibition of liver cancer growth realized by the intrinsic toxicity of a quantum dot–lipid complex

Abstract

Using the intrinsic toxicity of nanomaterials for anticancer therapy is an emerging concept. In this work, we discovered that CdTe/CdS quantum dots, when coated with lipids (QD-LC) instead of popular liposomes, polymers, or dendrimers, demonstrated extraordinarily high specificity for cancer cells, which was due to the difference in the macropinocytosis uptake pathways of QD-LC between the cancer cells and the normal cells. QD-LC-induced HepG2 cell apoptosis was concomitant with the activation of the JNK/caspase-3 signaling pathway. Moreover, QD-LC treatment resulted in a delay in the latent period for microtumor formation of mouse hepatocarcinoma H22 cells and inhibited tumor growth, with a reduction of 53.2% in tumor volume without toxicity in major organs after intratumoral administrations to tumor-bearing mice. Our results demonstrate that QD-LC could be a very promising theranostic agent against liver cancer.

Cytotoxicity of various types of gold-mesoporous silica nanoparticles in human breast cancer cells

“…This has been attributed to their small size, because large surface area is generally thought to produce ROS and oxidative stress. 36,37 Three AuNPs in our study were found to be capable of generating intracellular ROS when stained with the cell permeable dye DCFH-DA, and the ROS inhibitor NAC significantly reduced ROS production and apoptosis induced by the AuNPs, suggesting that ROS generation plays a key role in the AuNP-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. This observation is consistent with earlier studies, which showed similar effects on PC12 and C17.2 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner.…”

The pervasiveness of macropinocytosis in oncological malignancies

“…HepG2 [25] human papillomavirus-related cervical adenocarcinoma ? HeLa, SiHa [26,27] lung adenocarcinoma KRAS, integrin avb3, galectin-3 H1792, A549, SKLU1, H1299 subcutaneous patient-derived (PDX) xenograft tumours [28 -30] osteosarcoma ?…”

Berberine-based carbon dots for selective and safe cancer theranostics

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Taking advantage over traditional organic dyes in terms of optical photostability and over semiconductor QDs concerning toxicity, CDs have been utilized as multifunctional nanocarriers for drug delivery, uorescent imaging, and photothermal therapy in several diseases. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Up to now, various synthetic strategies have been employed to fabricate CDs, including bottom-up carbonization from small molecules and polymers, as well as top-down cutting from different carbon sources. 1,2,20 It is more conducive to manipulate physical characters and chemical compositions of CDs by bottom-up compared with top-down methods.…”

“…[23][24][25] Previous studies have showed that the combination of CDs with several anticancer agents through absorption or conjugation could be applied for cancer theranostics. 10,[26][27][28][29] In this regard, CDs could only act as diagnosis agents and limited attention has been paid to their own therapeutic properties. Hence, developing efficient and safe CDs for intrinsic cancer theranostics is highly desired.…”