A comparison of the inhibitory effect of nano-encapsulated helenalin and free helenalin on telomerase gene expression in the breast cancer cell line, by real-time PCR

Abstract

Background

The up-regulation of telomerase gene expression occurs in numerous cancers such as breast cancer. A recent study used the PLGA-PEG-helenalin complex, and free helenalin, to inhibit the expression of telomerase in the breast cancer cell line. The purpose of this study was to examine whether nano encapsulating helenalin improves the anti-cancer effect of free helenalin in the T47D breast cancer cell line.

Method

The breast cancer cell line (T47D) was grown in the RPMI 1640 medium, supplemented with 10% FBS. The helenalin was encapsulated by the double emulsion method. Then, the drug loading was calculated and its morphology identified by SEM. Other properties of this copolymer were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and H nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR) spectroscopy. The assessment of drug cytotoxicity on the growth of the breast cancer cell line was carried out through MTT assay. After treating the cells with a given amount of drug, RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. In order to assess the amount of telomerase gene expression, real-time PCR was performed.

Results

With regard to the amount of the drug loaded, IC50 value was significantly decreased in nanocapsulated (NC) helenalin, in comparison with that of free helenalin. This finding has been proved through the decrease of telomerase gene expression by real-time PCR.

Conclusion

In this study, we demonstrated that the NC-helenalin complex is more effective than free helenalin in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells.

Keywords::

• breast cancer
• hTERT
• helenalin
• PLGA-PEG
• real-time PCR

Authors’ contributions

MR conceived of the study and participated in its design and coordination. NZ and A.A participated in the sequence alignment and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the financial support from Iran National Science Foundation, Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz university of Medical Sciences, and The Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The authors thank the Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Science of Tabriz University, for all support provided.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This work is funded by the 2012 Yeungnam University Research Grant.