Investigation of Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis, and Oxidative Stress Response of Fe3O4-RGO Nanocomposites in Human Liver HepG2 cells

Enhanced Biocompatibility by Evaluating the Cytotoxic and Genotoxic Effects of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles and Chitosan on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells (HCC)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the fifth most prevalent cancer worldwide, is influenced by a myriad of clinic-pathological factors, including viral infections and genetic abnormalities. This study delineates the synthesis, characterization, and the biological efficacy of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4) and chitosan-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4-CS) against HCC. Analytical methods confirmed the successful synthesis of both nanoparticles, with Fe3O4-CS demonstrating a smaller, uniform spherical morphology and distinct surface and magnetic properties attributable to its chitosan coating. The prepared materials were analyzed using various techniques, and their potential cytotoxic effects on HepG2 cancer cells line for HCC were investigated. In biological evaluations against HepG2 cells, a notable distinction in cytotoxicity was observed. Fe3O4 showed modest anticancer activity with an IC50 of 383.71 ± 23.9 µg/mL, whereas Fe3O4 exhibited a significantly enhanced cytotoxic effect, with a much lower IC50 of 39.15 ± 39.2 µg/mL. The Comet assay further evidenced Fe3O4-CS potent DNA damaging effect, showcasing its superior ability to induce apoptosis through extensive DNA fragmentation. Biochemical analyses integrated into our results reveal that Fe3O4-CS not only induces significant DNA damage but also markedly alters oxidative stress markers. Compared to control and Fe3O4-treated cells, Fe3O4-CS exposure significantly elevated levels of oxidative stress markers: superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased to 192.07 U/ml, catalase (CAT) decreased to 0.03 U/L, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) rose dramatically to 18.76 U/gT, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels heightened to 30.33 nmol/gT. These results underscore the potential of Fe3O4-CS nanoparticles not only in inducing significant DNA damage conducive to cancer cell apoptosis but also in altering enzymatic activities and oxidative stress markers, suggesting a dual mechanism of action that may underpin their therapeutic advantage in cancer treatment. Our findings advocate for the further exploration of Fe3O4-CS nanoparticles in the development of anticancer drugs, emphasizing their capability to trigger oxidative stress and enhance antioxidant defense mechanisms.

Comprehensive Study on the Reinforcement of Electrospun PHB Scaffolds with Composite Magnetic Fe3O4-rGO Fillers: Structure, Physico-Mechanical Properties, and Piezoelectric Response

This is a comprehensive study on the reinforcement of electrospun poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) scaffolds with a composite filler of magnetite-reduced graphene oxide (Fe₃O₄-rGO). The composite filler promoted the increase of average fiber diameters and decrease of the degree of crystallinity of hybrid scaffolds. The decrease in the fiber diameter enhanced the ductility and mechanical strength of scaffolds. The surface electric potential of PHB/Fe₃O₄-rGO composite scaffolds significantly increased with increasing fiber diameter owing to a greater number of polar functional groups. The changes in the microfiber diameter did not have any influence on effective piezoresponses of composite scaffolds. The Fe₃O₄-rGO filler imparted high saturation magnetization (6.67 ± 0.17 emu/g) to the scaffolds. Thus, magnetic PHB/Fe₃O₄-rGO composite scaffolds both preserve magnetic properties and provide a piezoresponse, whereas varying the fiber diameter offers control over ductility and surface electric potential.

Cytotoxicity Effect of Iron Oxide (Fe3O4)/Graphene Oxide (GO) Nanosheets in Cultured HBE Cells

Iron oxide (Fe3O4), a classical magnetic material, has been widely utilized in the field of biological magnetic resonance imaging Graphene oxide (GO) has also been extensively applied as a drug carrier due to its high specific surface area and other properties. Recently, numerous studies have synthesized Fe3O4/GO nanomaterials for biological diagnosis and treatments, including photothermal therapy and magnetic thermal therapy. However, the biosafety of the synthesized Fe3O4/GO nanomaterials still needs to be further identified. Therefore, this research intended to ascertain the cytotoxicity of Fe3O4/GO after treatment with different conditions in HBE cells. The results indicated the time-dependent and concentration-dependent cytotoxicity of Fe3O4/GO. Meanwhile, exposure to Fe3O4/GO nanomaterials increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, calcium ions levels, and oxidative stress in mitochondria produced by these nanomaterials activated Caspase-9 and Caspase-3, ultimately leading to cell apoptosis.

Effects of Metallic and Carbon-Based Nanomaterials on Human Pancreatic Cancer Cell Lines AsPC-1 and BxPC-3

Pancreatic cancer, due to its asymptomatic development and drug-resistance, is difficult to cure. As many metallic and carbon-based nanomaterials have shown anticancer properties, we decided to investigate their potential use as anticancer agents against human pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The objective of the study was to evaluate the toxic properties of the following nanomaterials: silver (Ag), gold (Au), platinum (Pt), graphene oxide (GO), diamond (ND), and fullerenol (C₆₀(OH)₄₀) against the cell lines BxPC-3, AsPC-1, HFFF-2, and HS-5. The potential cytotoxic properties were evaluated by the assessment of the cell morphology, cell viability, and cell membrane damage. The cancer cell responses to GO and ND were analysed by determination of changes in the levels of 40 different pro-inflammatory proteins. Our studies revealed that the highest cytotoxicity was obtained after the ND treatment. Moreover, BxPC-3 cells were more sensitive to ND than AsPC-1 cells due to the ND-induced ROS production. Furthermore, in both of the cancer cell lines, ND caused an increased level of IL-8 and a decreased level of TIMP-2, whereas GO caused only decreased levels of TIMP-2 and ICAM-1 proteins. This work provides important data on the toxicity of various nanoparticles against pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines.

Facile green synthesis of ZnO-RGO nanocomposites with enhanced anticancer efficacy

Drug resistance and inability to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous cells are important obstacles in the treatment of cancer. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) is now emerging as a crucial material to challenge this global issue due to its tunable properties. Developing an effective, inexpensive, and eco-friendly method in order to tailor the properties of ZnO NPs with enhanced anticancer efficacy is still challenging. For the first time, we reported a facile, inexpensive, and eco-friendly approach for green synthesis of ZnO-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (ZnO-RGO NCs) using garlic clove extract. Garlic has been playing one of the most important dietary and medicinal roles for humans since centuries. We aimed to minimize the use of toxic chemicals and enhance the anticancer potential of ZnO-RGO NCs with minimum side effects to normal cells. Aqueous extract of garlic clove was used as reducing and stabilizing agent for green synthesis of ZnO-RGO NCs from the zinc nitrate and graphene oxide (GO) precursors. A potential mechanism of ZnO-RGO NCs synthesis with garlic clove extract was also proposed. Preparation of pure ZnO NPs and ZnO-RGO NCs was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The in vitro study showed that ZnO-RGO NCs induce two-fold higher cytotoxicity in human breast cancer (MCF7) and human colorectal cancer (HCT116) cells as compared to pure ZnO NPs. Besides, biocompatibility of ZnO-RGO NCs in non-cancerous human normal breast (MCF10A) and normal colon epithelial (NCM460) cells was higher than those of pure ZnO NPs. This work highlighted a facile and inexpensive green approach for the preparation of ZnO-RGO NCs with enhanced anticancer activity and improved biocompatibility.

Carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites for effective cancer treatment

The treatment of cancer includes several conventional therapies like surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, etc. but mostly associated with limitations like off-targeted action, fatigue and organ toxicity. The emergence of nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery systems shows revolutionary development to overcome the limitations of such therapies. Magnetic nanocomposites are the new area of research that consists of nanoscale magnetic materials for triggering the release of active in response to an external magnetic field. For targeted drug delivery and enhancing the biocompatibility, effective functionalization of magnetic nanocomposites is required. Therefore, several biological molecules like carbohydrate polymers, proteins, nucleic acids, antibodies, etc. are used. This review article focuses on the insights of advances in the development of carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites for safe and effective cancer treatment. Carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites offer significant advantages like greater stability, higher biocompatibility and lower toxicity with better physicochemical properties such as higher magnetic moments and anisotropy, larger heating properties, etc. Magnetic nanocomposites explore in almost all the areas of cancer therapeutics for drug delivery carrier, as antineoplastic and MRI contrast agents and in photothermal, photodynamic and in combinational therapies for the development of safer nanocarriers. Such progressive trend of carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites will encourage the researchers for better site-specific delivery with higher safety profile in cancer therapy.