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Ramezani R, Mohammadian M, Hosseini ES, Zare M. The effect of bovine milk lactoferrin-loaded exosomes (exoLF) on human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. BMC Complement Med Ther 2023; 23:228. [PMID: 37422619 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-023-04045-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cancer is still the most challenging disease and is responsible for many deaths worldwide. Considerable research now focuses on targeted therapy in cancer using natural components to improve anti-tumor efficacy and reduce unfavorable effects. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding glycoprotein found in body fluids. Increasing evidence suggests that lactoferrin is a safe agent capable of inducing anti-cancer effects. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the effects of the exosomal form of bovine milk lactoferrin on a human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. METHODS The exosomes were isolated from cancer cells by ultracentrifugation and incorporated with bovine milk lactoferrin through the incubation method. The average size of the purified exosome was determined using SEM imaging and DLS analysis. The maximum percentage of lactoferrin-loaded exosomes (exoLF) was achieved by incubating 1 mg/ml of lactoferrin with 30 µg/ml of MDA-MB-231 cells-derived exosomes. Following treatment of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells and normal cells with 1 mg/ml exoLF MTT assay applied to evaluate the cytotoxicity, PI/ annexin V analysis was carried out to illustrate the apoptotic phenotype, and the real-time PCR was performed to assess the pro-apoptotic protein, Bid, and anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2. RESULTS The average size of the purified exosome was about 100 nm. The maximum lactoferrin loading efficiency of exoLF was 29.72%. MTT assay showed that although the 1 mg/ml exoLF treatment of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells induced 50% cell growth inhibition, normal mesenchymal stem cells remained viable. PI/ annexin V analysis revealed that 34% of cancer cells had late apoptotic phenotype after treatment. The real-time PCR showed an elevated expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bid and diminished anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 following exoLF treatment. CONCLUSION These results suggested that exoLF could induce selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells compared to normal cells. Incorporating lactoferrin into the exosome seems an effective agent for cancer therapy. However, further studies are required to evaluate anti-tumor efficacy and the underlying mechanism of exoLF in various cancer cell lines and animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reihaneh Ramezani
- Department of Family Therapy, Women Research Center, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Mozhdeh Mohammadian
- Department of Hematology and Cell Therapy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elaheh Sadat Hosseini
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tehran North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehrak Zare
- Skin and Stem Cell Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Evaluation of the effect of nano-encapsulated lactoferrin on the expression of Bak and Bax genes in gastric cancer cell line AGS and study of the molecular docking of lactoferrin with these proteins. Gene 2023; 866:147355. [PMID: 36907277 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2023]
Abstract
lactoferrin (Lf) is a glycoprotein with various biological activities, including antibacterial, antiviral, anti-cancer, etc. In the present study, the effect of different concentrations of nano-encapsulated lactoferrin (NE-Lf) on the expression of Bax and Bak genes was evaluated in stomach cancer cell line AGS using real-time PCR technique and cytotoxicity of NE-Lf on the growth cells as well as the molecular mechanism of these two genes and their proteins in the apoptosis pathway and the relationship between lactoferrin and these proteins were investigated by bioinformatics studies. In the viability test, the results showed that the growth inhibition effect of nano-lactoferrin was greater than lactoferrin in both concentrations, and chitosan had no inhibitory effect on the cells. In concentrations of 250 and 500 µg of NE-Lf Bax gene expression increased by 2.3 and 5 times, respectively, and Bak gene expression increased by 1.94 and 1.74 times, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant difference in the relative amount of gene expression between the treatments in both genes (P < 0.05). The binding mode of lactoferrin with Bax and Bak proteins was obtained using docking. According to docking results, the N-lobe region of lactoferrin interacts with the Bax protein, as well as the Bak protein. The results show that lactoferrin, in addition to acting on the gene, interacts with Bax and Bak proteins. Since two proteins are components of apoptosis, lactoferrin can induce apoptosis in this way.
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Proteins and their functionalization for finding therapeutic avenues in cancer: Current status and future prospective. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2023; 1878:188862. [PMID: 36791920 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2023.188862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
Despite the remarkable advancement in the health care sector, cancer remains the second most fatal disease globally. The existing conventional cancer treatments primarily include chemotherapy, which has been associated with little to severe side effects, and radiotherapy, which is usually expensive. To overcome these problems, target-specific nanocarriers have been explored for delivering chemo drugs. However, recent reports on using a few proteins having anticancer activity and further use of them as drug carriers have generated tremendous attention for furthering the research towards cancer therapy. Biomolecules, especially proteins, have emerged as suitable alternatives in cancer treatment due to multiple favourable properties including biocompatibility, biodegradability, and structural flexibility for easy surface functionalization. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have reported that various proteins derived from animal, plant, and bacterial species, demonstrated strong cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties against malignant cells in native and their different structural conformations. Moreover, surface tunable properties of these proteins help to bind a range of anticancer drugs and target ligands, thus making them efficient delivery agents in cancer therapy. Here, we discuss various proteins obtained from common exogenous sources and how they transform into effective anticancer agents. We also comprehensively discuss the tumor-killing mechanisms of different dietary proteins such as bovine α-lactalbumin, hen egg-white lysozyme, and their conjugates. We also articulate how protein nanostructures can be used as carriers for delivering cancer drugs and theranostics, and strategies to be adopted for improving their in vivo delivery and targeting. We further discuss the FDA-approved protein-based anticancer formulations along with those in different phases of clinical trials.
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Liu Z, Zhang C, Cui B, Wang Y, Lim K, Li K, Thiery JP, Chen J, Ho CL. Targeted EpCAM-binding for the development of potent and effective anticancer proteins. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 161:114443. [PMID: 36863098 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein-based cancer therapies are considered an alternative to conventional anticancer regimens, providing multifunctional properties while showing low toxicity. However, its widespread use is limited by absorption and instability issues, resulting in higher dosage requirements and a prolonged onset of bioactivity to elicit the desired response. Here, we developed a non-invasive antitumor treatment using designed ankyrin repeat protein (DARPin)-anticancer protein-conjugate that specifically targets the cancer biomarker, epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). The DARPin-anticancer proteins bind to EpCAM-positive cancer cells and improve the in vitro anticancer efficacy by over 100-folds within 24 h, where the DARPin-tagged human lactoferrin fragment (drtHLF4) IC50 value is within the nanomolar range. Orally administered drtHLF4 was readily absorbed into the systemic flow of the HT-29 cancer murine model, exerting its anticancer effect on other tumors in the host body. Orally administered drtHFL4 cleared HT29-colorectal tumors using a single dose, whereas intratumoral injection cleared HT29-subcutaneous tumors within three doses. This approach addresses the limitations of other protein-based anticancer treatments by providing a non-invasive anticancer therapy with improved potency and tumor-specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhao Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China.
| | - Chen Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China.
| | - Beiming Cui
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
| | - Yijie Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China.
| | - Kaisheng Lim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
| | - Kai Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China.
| | - Jean Paul Thiery
- Guangzhou Laboratory, No. 9 XingDaoHuanBei Road, Guangzhou International Bio Island, Guangzhou 510005, Guangdong Province, China.
| | - Jun Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
| | - Chun Loong Ho
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
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Pan Y, Liu Z, Wang Y, Zhang L, Chua N, Dai L, Chen J, Ho CL. Evaluation of the Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Oxidative Effects of Therapeutic Human Lactoferrin Fragments. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021; 9:779018. [PMID: 34917601 PMCID: PMC8671034 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.779018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic inflammation is considered a pressing health issue that needs resolving. Inflammatory disease such as inflammatory bowel disease requires a long-term medical regimen to prevent disease progression. Conventionally, lactoferrin is used to treat mild gastrointestinal tract and skin inflammation. Protease-digested lactoferrin fragments often exhibit improved therapeutic properties compared to full-length lactoferrin (flHLF). However, there are no studies on the use of protease-digested lactoferrin fragments to treat inflammation. Herein, we assess the anti-inflammatory properties of engineered recombinant lactoferrin fragments (rtHLF4, rteHLF1, and rpHLF2) on non-malignant colonic fibroblast cells and colorectal cancer cells. We found that rtHLF4 is 10 times more effective to prevent inflammation compared to flHLF. These results were investigated by looking into the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, angiogenesis activity, and cellular proliferation of the treated cells. We have demonstrated in this study the anti-inflammatory properties of the flHLF and the various lactoferrin fragments. These results complement the anti-cancer properties of these proteins that were demonstrated in an earlier study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Pan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhao Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
| | - Yijie Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
| | - Linshen Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
| | - Niying Chua
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Lei Dai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Shenzhen, China
| | - Jun Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
| | - Chun Loong Ho
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China
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