Iron oxide nanoparticles functionalized with 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and conjugated with thiazole alter the expression of BAX, BCL2, and p53 genes in AGS cell line

Abstract

Gastric cancer is a common type of cancer worldwide and has few therapeutic remedies. Studies indicated that thiazole derivatives have anticancer effects. Furthermore, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (M-IONPs) have attracted much attention in drug delivery systems. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) functionalized with 3-Chloropropyltrimethoxysilane (CPTMOS) and conjugated by 1-((3-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl) methylene)-2-(4-phenylthiazol-2-yl) hydrazine (TP) (Fe₃O₄@CPTMOS/TP NPs) on gastric cancer cell line as well as the expression of BAX, BCL2 and p53 genes. In this study, iron oxide nanoparticles were first synthesized by the co-precipitation method. To characterize the synthesized Fe₃O₄@CPTMOS/TP NPs, the physicochemical tests including XRD, EDX, SEM, FTIR, DLS and Zeta potential analyses were done. By using the MTT assay, the amount of IC₅₀ was measured in the treated cells. Thereafter, the expression of BAX, BCL2, and p53 genes was evaluated using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR). The DLS analysis indicated the hydrodynamic size of Fe₃O₄@CPTMOS/TP NPs was about 191 nm. Also, the zeta potential index was −8.97 mV. The amount of IC₅₀ was equal to 95.65 µg/ml in AGS cells. The Q-PCR showed a 1.37 fold in ratio expression of BAX/BCL2 and a 1.37 fold in expression of p53 gene in cells treated with NPs. The results indicated that the Fe₃O₄@CPTMOS/TP NPs had the ability to induce the apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells (AGS) by increasing the expression of BAX/BCL2 ratio and p53 gene.

Keywords:

• Gastric cancer
• iron oxide nanoparticles
• BAX
• BCL2
• p53

Disclosure statement

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.