Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011:6:1929-35.
doi: 10.2147/IJN.S24707. Epub 2011 Sep 9.

Study of the enhanced anticancer efficacy of gambogic acid on Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells when mediated via magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Cailian Wang  1 , Haijun Zhang, Baoan Chen, Haitao Yin, Wenwen Wang
Affiliations

Study of the enhanced anticancer efficacy of gambogic acid on Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells when mediated via magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Cailian Wang et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2011.

Abstract

Background: Gambogic acid (GA), a potent anticancer agent, is limited in clinical administration due to its poor water solubility. The aim of this study was to explore a drug delivery system based on magnetic Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles (MNP-Fe(3)O(4)) conjugated with GA to increase water solubility of the drug and enhance its chemotherapeutic efficiency for pancreatic cancer.

Methods: GA was conjugated with the MNP-Fe(3)O(4) colloidal suspension by mechanical absorption polymerization to construct GA-loaded MNP-Fe(3)O(4), which acted as a drug delivery system.

Results: Combination therapy with GA and MNP-Fe(3)O(4) induced remarkable improvement in anticancer activity, which was demonstrated by optical microscopic observations, MTT assay, and nuclear DAPI staining. Furthermore, the possible signaling pathway was explored by Western blot. In Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells, our observations demonstrated that this strategy could enhance potential anticancer efficiency by inducing apoptosis. The mechanisms of the synergistic effect may be due to reducing protein expression of Bcl-2 and enhancing that of Bax, caspase 9, and caspase 3.

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that a combination of GA and MNPs-Fe(3)O(4) represents a promising approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Keywords: apoptosis; drug delivery system; gambogic acid; magnetic nanoparticles; pancreatic cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transmission electron microscope image of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Size distribution histogram of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cytotoxic effect of GA or GA-loaded MNP-Fe3O4 against the Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells. Inset: Microscopic images of the Capan-1 cells after different treatments for 48 hours. (A) untreated cells as control, (B) MNP-Fe3O4, (C) GA alone, and (D) GA-loaded MNP-Fe3O4. Notes: The concentrations of GA, MNP-Fe3O4 are 1 μmol/L and 20 μg/mL, respectively. Data are expressed as means ± standard deviations (n − 3). Abbreviations: GA, gambogic acid; MNP-Fe3O4, magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Nuclear morphologic changes of the Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells after different treatment for 48 hours. (A) untreated cells as control, (B) MNP-Fe3O4, (C) GA alone, and (D) GA-loaded MNP-Fe3O4. Notes: The concentrations of GA and MNP-Fe3O4 are 1 μmol/L and 20 μg/mL, respectively. Magnification folds ×400. Arrows indicate cells with apoptotic nuclear condensation and fragmentation. Abbreviations: GA, gambogic acid; MNP-Fe3O4, magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Expression of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase 3, and caspase 9 protein in the Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells by Western blot after treatment of GA and/or MNP-Fe3O4 for 48 hours. Line 1, control; Line 2, incubated with 20 mg/L MNP-Fe3O4; Line 3, incubated with 1 μmol/L GA; Line 4, incubated with 1 μmol/L GA and 20 μg/mL MNP-Fe3O4. Abbreviations: MNP-Fe3O4, magnetic nanoparticles of Fe3O4; GA, gambogic acid.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic illustration of the possible process of distinguished improvement in anticancer activity by the GA-loaded MNP-Fe3O4. Abbreviations: MNP-Fe3O4, magnetic nanoparticles of Fe3O4; GA, gambogic acid.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tempero MA, Berlin J, Ducreux M, et al. Pancreatic cancer treatment and research: An international expert panel discussion. Ann Oncol. 2011;22:1500–1506. - PubMed
    1. Jemal A, Siegel R, Xu JQ, Ward E. Cancer Statistics, 2010. CA Cancer J Clin. 2010;60:277–300. - PubMed
    1. Nakai Y, Isayama H, Sasaki T, et al. Comorbidity, not age, is prognostic in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2011;78:252–259. - PubMed
    1. Guo QL, You QD, Wu ZQ, Yuan ST, Zhao L. General gambogic acids inhibited growth of human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells in vitro and in nude mice. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2004;25:769–774. - PubMed
    1. Yu J, Guo QL, You QD, et al. Gambogic acid-induced G(2)/M phase cell-cycle arrest via disturbing CDK7-mediated phosphorylation of CDC2/p34 in human gastric carcinoma BGC-823 cells. Carcinogenesis. 2007;28:632–638. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms