Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
incorporating celecoxib showed the same cytotoxicity against U87MG tu-
mor cells as celecoxib itself. Furthermore, celecoxib did not affect the degree
of migration of U87MG cells. When C6 rat glioma cells were used, PLGA
nanoparticles incorporating celecoxib showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity
similar to that of celecoxib itself. Neither celecoxib nor PLGA nanoparticles
incorporating celecoxib affected COX-2 expression in C6 cells on a Western
blot assay [250]. Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound derived from the
Indian spice turmeric. NanoCurc
TM
, a recently described polymeric nano-
particle formulation of curcumin was used to treat medulloblastoma and
glioblastoma cells. This formulation caused a dose-dependent decrease in
growth of multiple brain tumor cell cultures, including the embryonal tu-
mor derived lines DAOY and D283Med, and the glioblastoma neurosphere
lines HSR-GBM1 and JHH -GBM14. The reductions in viable cell mass
observed were associated with a combination of G2/M arrest and apoptotic
induction. Curcumin also significantly decreased anchorage independent
clonogenic growth and reduced the CD133-positive stem-like population.
Levels of STAT3 were also attenuated. These data suggest that curcumin
nanoparticles can inhibit malignant brain tumor growth through the modu-
lation of cell proliferation, survival and stem cell phenotype [251].
Gene therapy has the potential to effectively medicate cancer by treat-
ing the root of the disease. This technology involves the delivery of DNA
molecules to cancer cells to insert or modify a gene in an effort to treat the
disease. The delivery of DNA can be accomplished using a variety of vectors
including viruses, cell-based systems, and synthetic vectors. For glioma gene
therapy, viral vectors have been used to deliver suicide genes, pro-apoptotic
genes, p53, cytokines, and caspases. These studies have shown promising
preclinical results, but clinical trials have been limited by the fact that trans-
duced cells were found only within a very short distance of the delivery
site. To overcome these limitations, synthetic vectors have been developed
to more safely deliver DNA. In this study the authors investigate targeted
gene delivery to C6 glioma cells in a xenograft mouse model using chlo-
rotoxin (CTX) labeled nanoparticles. The developed nanovector consists
of an iron oxide nanoparticle core, coated with a copolymer of chitosan,
polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyethylenimine (PEI). The CTX promote
specific uptake of nanovectors into glioma cells, exposing a higher propor-
tion of target cells to the delivered payload. These results could provide in-
sight into the design of more effective gene delivery vehicles for improved
treatment outcome of gene therapy for glioma. In brain tumor treatment,
the efficiency of liposomes as nonviral gene delivery vectors has been in-
creased through surface ligand targeting, via mABs specific to certain re-
ceptors upregulated on glioma cell surfaces, such as transferrin receptors,
low-density lipoprotein receptors, and IL-13 receptors. A biopolymeric
gene delivery NP has recently been shown to be effective in vivo in delay-
ing tumor growth. This polymeric NP-based nonviral gene delivery vector
