GANT61 and curcumin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles for GLI1 and PI3K/Akt-mediated inhibition in breast adenocarcinoma

Nanotechnology. 2020 May 1;31(18):185102. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab6d20. Epub 2020 Jan 17.

Abstract

Current conventional mono and combination therapeutic strategies often fail to target breast cancer tissue effectively due to tumor heterogeneity comprising cancer stem cells (CSCs) and bulk tumor cells. This is further associated with drug toxicity and resistivity in the long run. A nanomedicine platform incorporating combination anti-cancer treatment might overcome these challenges and generate synergistic anti-cancer effects and also reduce drug toxicity. GANT61 and curcumin were co-delivered via polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) for the first time to elicit enhanced anti-tumor activity against heterogeneous breast cancer cell line MCF-7. We adopted the single-emulsion-solvent evaporation method for the preparation of the therapeutic NPs. The GANT61-curcumin PLGA NPs were characterized for their size, shape and chemical properties, and anti-cancer cell studies were undertaken for the plausible explanation of our hypothesis. The synthesized GANT61-curcumin PLGA NPs had a spherical, smooth surface morphology, and an average size of 347.4 d. nm. The NPs induced cytotoxic effects in breast cancer cells at a mid-minimal dosage followed by cell death via autophagy and apoptosis, reduction in their target protein expression along with compromising the self-renewal property of CSCs as revealed by their in vitro cell studies. The dual-drug NPs thus provide a novel perspective on aiding existing anti-cancer nanomedicine therapies to target a heterogeneous tumor mass effectively.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma / ultrastructure
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Autophagy / drug effects
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / ultrastructure
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Curcumin / pharmacology
  • Curcumin / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Liberation
  • Endocytosis / drug effects
  • Female
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Mice
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / ultrastructure
  • Particle Size
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / metabolism*
  • Photoelectron Spectroscopy
  • Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer / chemistry*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism*
  • Pyridines / pharmacology
  • Pyridines / therapeutic use*
  • Pyrimidines / pharmacology
  • Pyrimidines / therapeutic use*
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Spheroids, Cellular / drug effects
  • Spheroids, Cellular / pathology
  • Static Electricity
  • Zinc Finger Protein GLI1 / metabolism*

Substances

  • GANT 61
  • Pyridines
  • Pyrimidines
  • Zinc Finger Protein GLI1
  • Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • Curcumin