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Nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery has the potential for rendering silibinin specifically at the favorite site using an external magnetic field. Also, it can circumvent the pitfalls of poor solubility. For this purpose, silibinin-loaded magnetic nanoparticles are fabricated, characterized and evaluated cytotoxicity and hTERT gene expression in A549 lung cancer cell line. silibinin-loaded PLGA-PEG-Fe 3 O 4 had dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity than pure silibinin. Additionally, hTERT expression is more efficiently reduced with increasing concentrations of nanosilibinin than pure silibinin. The present study indicates that PLGA-PEG-Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, as an effective targeted carrier, can make a promising horizon in targeted lung cancer therapy.

Chrysin, as a flavone, has showed cancer chemopreventive activity. The present study utilized the PLGA-PEG-chrysin to evaluate the expression of miR-9 and Let-7a in human gastric cells. The structure of nanoparticles and encapsulated chrysin was evaluated using 1 H NMR, FT-IR, and SEM. MTT assay was used for the evaluation of cytotoxicity effect of nanoencapsulated chrysin. Expression levels of miR-9 and Let7-a were studied by real-time PCR. The results demonstrated that chrysin-PLGA-PEG nanoparticles are more effective than pure chrysin in upregulation of miR-9 and Let-7a due to enhanced uptake by cells. Therefore, PLGA-PEG could be a superior carrier for this kind of hydrophobic agent.

The side-effects observed in conventional therapies have made them unpromising in curing Hepatocellular carcinoma; therefore, developing novel treatments can be an overwhelming significance. One of such novel agents is curcumin which can induce apoptosis in various cancerous cells, however, its poor solubility is restricted its application. To overcome this issue, this paper employed dendrosomal curcumin (DNC) was employed to in prevent hepatocarcinoma in both RNA and protein levels. Hepatocarcinoma cells, p53 wild-type HepG2 and p53 mutant Huh7, were treated with DNC and investigated for toxicity study using MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were analyzed using Flow-cytometry and Annexin-V-FLUOS/PI staining. Real-time PCR and Western blot were employed to analyze p53, BAX, Bcl-2, p21 and Noxa in DNC-treated cells. DNC inhibited the growth in the form of time-dependent manner, while the carrier alone was not toxic to the cell. Flow-cytometry data showed the constant concentration of 20μM DNC during the time significantly increases cell population in SubG1 phase. Annexin-V-PI test showed curcumin-induced apoptosis was enhanced in Huh7 as well as HepG2, compared to untreated cells. Followed by treatment, mRNA expression of p21, BAX, and Noxa increased, while the expression of Bcl-2 decreased, and unlike HepG2, Huh7 showed down-regulation of p53. In summary, DNC-treated hepatocellular carcinoma cells undergo apoptosis by changing the expression of genes involved in the apoptosis and proliferation processes. These findings suggest that DNC, as a plant-originated therapeutic agent, could be applied in cancer treatment., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)