Effects of barium chloride adsorbed to polyethylene glycol (PEG) microspheres on co-culture of human blood mononuclear cell and breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7)

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of BaCl₂ adsorbed to polyethylene glycol (PEG) microspheres on human blood mononuclear cells (MN) co-cultured with breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7). The MCF-7 cells were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection and the blood mononuclear (MN) cells from volunteer donors. MN cells, MCF-7 cells and their co-culture (MN and MCF-7 cells) were pre-incubated for 24 h with or without 25 and 1000 pg L⁻¹ BaCl₂ (Ba₂₅ and Ba₁₀₀₀), PEG microspheres or 25 and 1000 pg L⁻¹ BaCl₂ adsorbed to PEG microspheres (PEG-Ba₂₅ and PEG-Ba₁₀₀₀). Rheological parameters and apoptosis were determined. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analyses revealed that BaCl₂ was able to adsorb the PEG microspheres. The blood flow and viscosity curves were similar among the treatments. In general, apoptosis rates increased in co-cultured cells, co-cultured cells incubated with Ba₂₅ and with PEG-Ba₂₅, but the highest rates were observed in co-cultured cells incubated with PEG-Ba₁₀₀₀. In conclusion, BaCl₂ adsorbed to PEG microspheres exhibited dose-dependent antitumor effects against human MCF-7 breast cancer cells co-cultured with MN cells, thereby offering a possible therapeutic alternative for treating this disease provided they are administered at very low concentrations.

Keywords:

• PEG microsphere
• barium chloride
• MCF-7 cells
• mononuclear cells
• apoptosis

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest and non-financial competing interests regarding the publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq No: 447218/2014-0; No: 308600/2015-0), Brazil.