Abstract: This study addresses the current knowledge of Quantum Dots (QDs) as drugs, targeting probes and as drug delivery carriers. We proposed to evaluate the toxic effects of oleic acid capped inverted core/shell QDs against Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line-Hep3B. We investigated two types of core/shell QDs with identical nature of their shell (CdSe) and different core (ZnSe-vs-CdS), the other properties affecting cellular responses– capping, particle size, shell and surface chemistry were kept constant. IC50 of QDs on Hep3B cells was achieved at 10µg/ml within 24 h. Incubation for 72 h with ZnSe/CdSe QDs produced an insignificant reduction in cell viability (63.44%). Hence the cellular responses were evaluated at the maximum concentration i.e 10µg/ml. LDH release enhanced on treatment with ZnSe/CdSe (45.64µM/min/mgprotein) and CdS/CdSe (39.49µM/min/mgprotein) when compared to untreated control (9.38µM/min/mgprotein). Enhanced DCFDA levels indicated ROS generation on treatment with QDs. ROS induced ER stress leading to increased release of intracellular calcium levels were observed. Disruption of MMP caused enhanced cytochrome-c levels that induced caspase-dependent cascade. Elevated apoptotic events were observed as evidenced by enhanced expression of apoptotic proteins, caspases and DNA fragmentation. These findings suggest that QDs have the potential for biological applications. Therefore, the toxicological risk of QDs need be assessed before embarking on any clinical use.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma, QDs, ROS, ER Stress, mitochondrial membrane potential, Caspase cascade, apoptotic pathway.
Title: Core shell quantum dots induced apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells via Reactive oxygen species-mediated mitochondrial-dependent pathway
Author: Aakriti Tyagi, Namrata Kumari, Ankita Leekha, Disha Mittal, Anita Kamra Verma
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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