Anticancer Activities of Synthesized Niosome Nanoparticles Using Artemisia Annua Extract: Caspase3 and Caspase9 Apoptosis Gene Expression Analysis in Breast Cancer Cell Line (MCF-7)
Abstract
Introduction: Pharmaceutical formulation of nanoparticles is widely used due to achieving targeted and stable drug release, improving drug solubility and reducing side drug reactions. One of the ways to improve the survival of cancer patients is the treatment using nanocarriers for anticancer drugs. The aim of this study was to synthesize encapsulated nisomes containing the extract of the Artemisia annua and investigate the anticancer and apoptotic effects against breast cancer cell lines.
Methods: In this study, a Niosomes nanocarrier was made and then the extract of Gondwash herb was loaded into it. Its physical and chemical properties were confirmed using SEM, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential. Likewise, the encapsulation percentage and release pattern of the extract were investigated. Finally, its anticancer effects against the breast cancer cell line (MCF_7) were investigated and the expression level of apoptotic genes Caspase3 and Caspase9 was studied using Real Time PCR method. At the end, statistical analysis was done by GraphPad Prism software, and cytotoxicity and gene expression data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance.
Results: The findings showed that the synthesized nanocarrier newsom containing the extract had a spherical structure and its size was 208.1 nanometers, the encapsulation percentage was 62.35% and the surface charge was 22.5. Similarly, newsome nanocarrier containing the extract had significant anticancer effects compared to the free extract and increased the expression of caspase 3 and caspase 9 genes by 1.184 ± 0.34 (P<0.05) and 1.68 ± 0.81, respectively. (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results showed that the nisome containing the extract of the Gondwash herb increases the anti-cancer and apoptotic effects significantly, and therefore, with further studies in the future, nisome can be used as a targeted drug delivery system for anti-cancer purposes.