Quantum Dots as a Good Carriers of Unsymmetrical Bisacridines for Modulating Cellular Uptake and the Biological Response in Lung and Colon Cancer Cells

Joanna Pilch; Patrycja Kowalik; Piotr Bujak; Anna M Nowicka; Ewa Augustin

doi:10.3390/nano11020462

Quantum Dots as a Good Carriers of Unsymmetrical Bisacridines for Modulating Cellular Uptake and the Biological Response in Lung and Colon Cancer Cells

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021 Feb 11;11(2):462. doi: 10.3390/nano11020462.

Authors

Joanna Pilch¹, Patrycja Kowalik^{2

3}, Piotr Bujak³, Anna M Nowicka², Ewa Augustin¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza Str. 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland.
² Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura Str. 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
³ Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, Noakowskiego Str. 3, 00-664 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

Nanotechnology-based drug delivery provides a promising area for improving the efficacy of cancer treatments. Therefore, we investigate the potential of using quantum dots (QDs) as drug carriers for antitumor unsymmetrical bisacridine derivatives (UAs) to cancer cells. We examine the influence of QD-UA hybrids on the cellular uptake, internalization (Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope), and the biological response (flow cytometry and light microscopy) in lung H460 and colon HCT116 cancer cells. We show the time-dependent cellular uptake of QD-UA hybrids, which were more efficiently retained inside the cells compared to UAs alone, especially in H460 cells, which could be due to multiple endocytosis pathways. In contrast, in HCT116 cells, the hybrids were taken up only by one endocytosis mechanism. Both UAs and their hybrids induced apoptosis in H460 and HCT116 cells (to a greater extent in H460). Cells which did not die underwent senescence more efficiently following QDs-UAs treatment, compared to UAs alone. Cellular senescence was not observed in HCT116 cells following treatment with both UAs and their hybrids. Importantly, QD_green/red themselves did not provoke toxic responses in cancer or normal cells. In conclusion, QDs are good candidates for targeted UA delivery carriers to cancer cells while protecting normal cells from toxic drug activities.

Keywords: apoptosis; cellular senescence; cellular uptake; internalization; lung and colon cancer cells; quantum dots; unsymmetrical bisacridines.