Preparation of Realgar Nanoparticle Suspension and Its Inhibition Effect on the Proliferation of Human Myelocytic Leukaemia HL-60 Cells

Abstract

Realgar (As₄S₄) has recently been proved effective in the treatment of leukaemia in clinical trials. However, the poor solubility of realgar makes it difficult to conduct mechanistic study in cellular level. In this work, we prepared realgar nanoparticle (RNP) suspension and examined its effect on the proliferation of human myelocytic leukaemia HL-60 cells. The average diameter of the particles was 143 nm and was stable against coalescence over a 15-month storage. The suspension inhibited cell proliferation dose-dependently at concentrations from 10 to 60 µM (As), a fact shedding light on the mechanism of realgar's clinical effectiveness against hematopoietic malignancies.

Keywords:

• HL-60
• leukaemia
• nanoparticle
• proliferation
• realgar

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 20271005 and 20571006), Natural Science Foundation of Beijing (Grant 2062007), Beijing Municipal Education Commission, and Beijing Talent Project.