title: ROS-mediated apoptotic cell death in prostate cancer LNCaP cells induced by biosurfactant stabilized CdS quantum dots.
abstract: Cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots (QDs) have raised great attention because of their superior optical properties and wide utilization in biological and biomedical studies. However, little is known about the cell death mechanisms of CdS QDs in human cancer cells. This study was designed to investigate the possible mechanisms of apoptosis induced by biosurfactant stabilized CdS QDs (denoted as "bsCdS QDs") in human prostate cancer LNCaP cells. It was also noteworthy that apoptosis correlated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress and chromatin condensation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Results also showed involvement of caspases, Bcl-2 family proteins, heat shock protein 70, and a cell-cycle checkpoint protein p53 in apoptosis induction by bsCdS QDs in LNCaP cells. Moreover, pro-apoptotic protein Bax was upregulated and the anti-apoptotic proteins, survivin and NF-κB were downregulated in bsCdS QDs exposed cells. Protection of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) against ROS clearly suggested the implication of ROS in hyper-activation of apoptosis and cell death. It is encouraging to conclude that biologically stabilized CdS QDs bear the potential of its applications in biomedicine, such as tumor therapy specifically by inducing caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death of human prostate cancer LNCaP cells.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence in Materials Science-Nanomaterials, Department of Applied Physics, Z.H. College of Engg. & Tech., Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Braj R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Brahma N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Naqvi
mesh_terms: D029044:Achyranthes / Q000382:microbiology; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D045663:Quantum Dots; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D013440:Sulfides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013440:Sulfides; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C034939:cadmium sulfide; D020169:Caspases