No abstract

Magnetic nanoparticles are key components in many fields of science and industry. Especially in cancer diagnosis and therapy, they are involved in targeted drug delivery and hyperthermia applications due to their ability to be controlled remotely. In this study, a PEG-coated Fe/Fe 3 O 4 core-shell nanoparticle with an average size of 20 nm and 13 nm and high room temperature coercivity (350 Oe) has been successfully synthesized. These nanoparticles were further tested for their effect on cellular toxicity (IC50) and proliferation by WST assay. In addition, their potential as anti-cancer agents were assessed using scratch assay in NIH3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblast and A549 non-small cell lung cancer cell lines.In previous reports, the IC50 values of the magnetite nanoparticles are reported at concentrations of 100 μg/ml and higher. In this study, IC50 value is observed to be at 1 μg/ml, which is significantly lower when compared to similar studies. In scratch assay, the Fe/Fe3O4 core-shell nanoparticle showed a higher inhibitory potential on cell motility in A549 lung cancer cells in comparison to the NIH3T3 cells mouse embryonic fibroblasts. This could be due to the accelerated release of free Fe ion from the Fe core, resulting in cell death. Consequently, data obtained from this study suggest that the synthesized nanoparticles can be a potential drug candidate with anti-cancer activity for chemotherapeutic treatment.

Lung cancer is listed as the most fatal type of cancer around the world. ERG, a transcription factor, is an ETS family member protein. It is involved in Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), metastasis and DNA repair defects. Etoposide is a chemotherapeutic agent used in treatment of a variety of different cancer types, including lung cancer. Moreover, Etoposide has been tested alone and in combination with other drugs in order to inhibit DNA synthesis and exhibit antitumor activity. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of Etoposide treatment on ERG transfected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line, H358.

Purpose: This study is aimed to assess the serum expression levels of miR-210 and microRNA-23b (miR-23b) in bladder cancer (BC) patients to evaluate their potential as noninvasive biomarkers. Materials and Methods: This study included 93 subjects divided into the following three groups: Group Ia, 31 patients newly diagnosed with BC; Group Ib, Group Ia patients 6 months after medical and/or surgical treatment; and Group II, 31 healthy controls. The gene expressions of miR-210 and miR-23b were determined using quantitative SYBR Green reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: The expression of miR-210 was significantly higher in BC patients compared to the controls (P = 0.012), while miR-23b did not show any difference. miR-210 expression in BC patients did not differ before and after treatment (P = 0.89). Area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic analysis for miR-210 in distinguishing BC from controls was 0.686 (95% confidence interval, 0.553–0.818) with 71% sensitivity and 61% specificity. Conclusion: miR-210 can serve as a noninvasive diagnostic marker for BC; however, it cannot be used during treatment follow-up. miR-23b cannot be used as a diagnostic nor prognostic marker for BC.

Lung cancer, among all cancer types around the world, is listed as the major cause of death with high mortality rate. ERG transcription factor has an important role in the Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), which is one of the most important mechanisms in lung cancer progression. It is known that a small molecule inhibitor YK-4-279 is a potential inhibitor of ERG expression in prostate cancer. In this study, the possible synergistic effect of YK-4-279 and another anticancer drug, Paclitaxel is analysed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line, A549.