Selective anti-cancer activity against melanoma cells using 3-O-acetyl-β-boswellic acid-loaded 3D-Printed scaffold

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a local 3 D-printed bioactive graft using poly-caprolacton (PCL) as a drug carrier and 3-O-acetyl-β-boswellic acid (β-ABA) as an anticancer compound. β-ABA-loaded 3 D-printed scaffold was fabricated and physically characterized. The results indicated more desirable mechanical and physical properties of the β-ABA-loaded PCL mat in comparison with the PCL scaffold. Following sustained release of β-ABA, the β-ABA-loaded PCL scaffold revealed selective cytotoxic activity against melanoma cells, while the PCL + ABA with the bolus delivery of β-ABA was toxic against fibroblast cells. Followed by the induction of apoptosis in melanoma cells at the gene level, the result of the western blot showed that the β-ABA-loaded scaffold significantly up-regulated P53 and down-regulated BCL2, with an increment in the ratio of Bax/BCL2. The selective anti-cancer properties of β-ABA-loaded 3 D printed scaffold against melanoma cells indicated that this scaffold could be potentially used as a bioactive graft to improve the melanoma treatment.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• 3D-printing
• BCL2
• boswellic acid
• melanoma
• p53
• skin tissue engineering
• sustained delivery

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. Saleh Al-Amri for the collection of oleo-gum resins of boswellia sacra (B. sacra) from Dhofar region (Oman).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by The Research Council's external grant (grant number: BFP/RGP/HSS/18/024, 2019) and the GCC co-funding (grant number: CL/SQU-GCC/17/03).