Drug resistance reversal and survivin action mechanism of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles on hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Abstract

We herein studied mechanism of drug resistance reversal and survivin action of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles on hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Fe3O4 was prepared and co-cultured with HepG2/Adriamycin (ADM). Results showed that, A value of liver cancer group was lower than that multidrug resistance group at different time points (P <0.05). The A value of multidrug resistance at different time points was higher than nano group (P <0.05). Compared with liver cancer, multidrug resistance group showed different degrees of resistance to ADM, cisplatin (DDP), 5-FU and Vincristine (VCR), with drug resistance indexes of 32.57, 4.58, 4.16 and 4.73, respectively. After HepG2/ADM cells were treated with Fe3O4 for 48 h, drug-resistant cells sensitivity to 4 drugs was enhanced and IC50 decreased significantly, while reversal times of drug resistance were 3.65, 3.48, 2.67, and 2.58 times, respectively. Moreover, apoptosis rate of hepatoma group (52.31±4.28) was lower than that of multidrug resistance group (74.25±6.81) (P <0.05). The apoptosis rate of multidrug resistance group was higher than that of nano group (22.41±3.14) (P <0.05). Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and survivin gene and protein expressions in HCC group were less than multidrug resistance group (P <0.05). STAT3 and survivin gene and protein expressions in the multidrug resistance group were greater than nano group (P <0.05). In conclusion, Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles may facilitate reversal and apoptosis of liver cancer multidrug resistant cells by inhibiting the expression of survivin.