Etoposide loaded SPION-PNIPAM nanoparticles improve the in vitro therapeutic outcome on metastatic prostate cancer cells via enhanced apoptosis

Abstract

Prostate cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide because its metastatic form is a deadly disease. Therefore, the development of new chemotherapeutics is of immense importance. Nanoparticle technology seems to provide diverse options in this regard. Therefore, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) loaded with etoposide were prepared in small sizes (57 nm) and with 3.5% drug content to improve the efficiency of etoposide in prostate cancer therapy. Sustained release of the drug was achieved, which found to be sensitive to low pH and high temperature. The anti-growth activity of SPION-PNIPAM-Etoposide formulation against metastatic prostate cancer cells (PC-3, LNCaP) were investigated by SRB assay, then confirmed by ATP assay. Mode of cell death was evaluated by using flow cytometry analyses. A significant improvement of nanoformulated drug was observed at 5-10 μg/ml doses of the drug in both cell lines. More importantly, this formulation enhanced the cytotoxic effect of etoposide on PC-3 cells, which is considered more resistant to etoposide than LNCaP, and reduced the IC 50 by 55% reaching to 4.5 μg drug/ml, which is a very significant improvement in the literature. It was clearly shown that nanoformulated drug provided about 3 fold increases in caspase-dependent early apoptotic cells in PC-3 cells. The novel formulation seems to successfully cause cell death of especially PC-3 metastatic prostate cancer cells. It should therefore be taken into consideration for further animal studies as a novel potent anticancer agent.