Cell Development Inhibition By Nanoparticles, A Promising Approach For Cancer Therapy

Background and ObjectiveMontmorillonite (Mont), a FDA-approved mineral (1), has been widely used in pharmacy industry as both excipient and active agents (2). In recent years, it was also used as an efficient nanocarrier in many oral drug delivery systems, resulting in increasing the bioavailability as well as reducing the side effects of drugs (3-5). However, there are some limited reports implying (6) or rejecting (7 & 8) the potential of Mont to inhibit cancer cells. Herein, the effect of Mont on the development of cancerous cells was investigated. Materials & MethodsCancerous cell lines including HepG2 (liver), HT-29 (colon), MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 (breast) were treated by Mont in concentrations ranging from 12 up to 4000 μg/ml and the viability of cell was determined by MTT assay at three repetitions and P values were calculated by T-test.FindingsThe results of MTT assay clearly demonstrated that Mont in concentrations ≥ 200, 300, 300 and 500 μg/ml could significantly (P values ˂ 0.05) reduce the viability in MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, HepG2 and HT-29 cell lines, respectively. These cell lines displayed various stabilities against different concentrations of Mont. For instance, in concentration of 500 μg/ml HT-29 was more resistant than MCF-7, while in concentrations ≥ 1000 μg/ml the viability of MCF-7 was considerably more than HT-29. As well, in three concentrations 500, 750 and 1000 μg/ml, HepG2 did not show any significant difference in viability, whereas HT-29 showed the maximum of differences in viability. However, among all cell lines MDA-MB-231 showed the least viability in all concentrations tested.ConclusionBesides that Mont can be applied in pharmacy industry, as an excipient/active agent as well as a nanocarrier, interestingly it alone can inhibit the development of various cancerous cells. The degree of inhibition is dependent on the type of cells and the concentration of nanoparticles. The potential of Mont can be promising in drug delivery to gastrointestinal cancers and also in hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, where Mont will be a carrier for the chemotherapy drugs.

Keywords:

Cancer , Chemotherapy , Nanoparticle , Montmorillonite