Nickel nanowires induced and reactive oxygen species mediated apoptosis in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

Abstract

Background The ability to evade apoptosis is one of the key properties of cancer. The apoptogenic effect of nickel nanowires (Ni NWs) on cancer cell lines has never been adequately addressed. Due to the unique physicochemical characteristics of Ni NWs, we envision the development of a novel anticancer therapeutics specifically for pancreatic cancer. Thus, we investigated whether Ni NWs induce ROS-mediated apoptosis in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (Panc-1) cells. Methods In this study Ni NWs were fabricated using the electrodeposition method. Synthesized Ni NWs were physically characterized by energy dispersive X-ray analysis, UV-Vis spectroscopy of NanoDrop 2000 (UV-Vis), magnetization study, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Assessment of morphological apoptotic characteristics by phase contrast microscopy (PCM), Ni-NWs-induced apoptosis staining with ethidium bromide (EB) and acridine orange (AO) followed by fluorescence microscopy (FM) was performed. For molecular biological and biochemical characterization, Panc-1 cell culture and cytotoxic effect of Ni NWs were determined by using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Quantitative apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry staining with propidium iodide through cell cycle arrest and generation of ROS using 2′, 7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate fluorescence intensity. In all experiments, Panc-1 cancer cells without any treatment were used as the negative controls. Results The intracellular uptake of Ni NWs through endocytosis by Panc-1 cells was observed by PCM. EB and AO staining of FM and MTT assay qualitatively and quantitatively confirmed the extent of apoptosis. Flow cytometric cell cycle arrest and ROS generation indicated Ni NWs as inducers of apoptotic cell death. Conclusion We investigated the role of Ni NWs as inducers of ROS-mediated apoptosis in Panc-1 cells. These results suggested that Ni NWs could be an effective apoptotic agent for Panc-1 cells and have good potential for further research into a clinical treatment selective for pancreatic cancer.

Non-chemotoxic induction of cancer cell death using magnetic nanowires

“…They have also been shown to work as apoptotic agents for pancreatic cancer cells. 30 The large number of studies that use Ni NWs in comparison to Fe might suggest that Ni is a better candidate material despite its reported genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in Ni-containing dust particles. 31 Even though no work has been done that directly compares the cytotoxicity of Fe and Ni NWs under the same experimental conditions (cell line, incubation times, concentrations), a cross-comparison among studies 32,33 reveals that Fe NWs are considerably less toxic at a given concentration than are Ni NWs.…”

Wortmannin induces MCF-7 breast cancer cell death via the apoptotic pathway, involving chromatin condensation, generation of reactive oxygen species, and membrane blebbing

“…2,10,28,35 This appearance is positively correlated with drug concentration and apoptosis induction despite the absence of normal caspase 3 in the cells. 23,24 It has been reported that wortmannin toxicity is more potent in DNA damaged cells than in nondamaged cells.…”

“…2 An ideal anticancer drug would inactivate cancer cells without much more effect in normal cells. 10 By inducing apoptosis specifically in cancer cells, this ultimate goal can be achievable. Phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) helps cancer cells to avoid apoptosis and promotes cell cycle progression and proliferation as well as angiogenesis by modulating proapoptotic molecules, such as Bad and p53, [11][12][13][14][15] enabling cancer cells to grow in an uncontrolled manner.…”

Selective cancer-killing ability of metal-based nanoparticles: implications for cancer therapy

“…We reported that NPs of nickel ferrite (Ahamed et al 2011a, b) and nickel oxide (Ahamed et al 2013a, b) induced apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) and liver cancer (Hep G2) cells via bax/bcl-2 and caspase pathways stimulated by ROS. Nickel nanowires induced ROS-mediated apoptosis in human non-endocrine pancreatic (Panc-1) cancer cells (Hossain and Kleve 2011) and HeLa cells , thus showing potential for an innovative approach toward cancer therapy. Iron oxide (Fe3O4) NPs selectively induced apoptosis in cancer cells (HepG2 and A549) compared with two types of normal cells (human lung fibroblast IMR-90 and rat hepatocytes).…”