Male breast cancer spheroids respond differently to curcumin-loaded graphene nanosheets than MCF-7 spheroids
Male breast cancer spheroids respond differently to curcumin-loaded graphene nanosheets than MCF-7 spheroids
Saeideh Jafarinejad Farsangi,1,*Seyede Elmira Yazdi Rouholamini,2zeinab Ansari asl,3
1. Physiology Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 2. Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran 3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) in men is rare but the incidence rate is rising worldwide and the mortality of patients is still high. Unfortunately, the existing knowledge about MBC is so limited, and clinical strategies for the treatment of MBC are the same as those for female breast cancer (FBC). Graphene nanosheets with unique physicochemical properties have been considered as potential biomedical approaches for drug delivery, bioimaging, and therapy. Graphene oxide (GO) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are suitable nanocarriers for hydrophobic and low bioaccessible antitumor materials like curcumin. Here, we evaluated cell death in mammospheres derived from primary breast tumor cells from a man and MCF-7 in response to curcumin loaded on graphene nanosheets.
Methods: Mammospheres were exposed to graphene oxide-curcumin (GO-Cur) and graphene quantum dots-curcumin (GQDs-Cur) and the incidence of cell death was evaluated by Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide double staining and flow cytometry. In addition, the expression of miR-21, miR-29a, Bax, and Bcl-2 genes were assessed using RT-qPCR.
Results: We observed, GO and GQDs had no cytotoxic effect on Kerman male breast cancer/71 (KMBC/71) and MCF-7 tumor cells while curcumin-induced death in more than 50% of tumor cells. GO-Cur and GQDs-Cur synergistically enhanced the anti-tumor activity of curcumin. Moreover, GQDs-Cur induced cell death in almost all cells of KMBC/71 mammospheres (99%; p < 0.0001). In contrast, GO-Cur induced cell death in only 21 % of MCF-7 mammosphere cells (p < 0.0001). In addition, the expression of miR-21, miR-29a, and also Bax/Bcl-2 ratio did not follow the same pattern in KMBC/71 and MCF-7 mammospheres in response to GO-Cur and GQDs-Cur.
Conclusion: Although KMBC/71 and MCF-7 tumor cells had similar clinical features and displayed similar responses to curcumin, more investigations are needed to clarify the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying observed differences in response to GO-Cur and GQDs-Cur.