title: Dextran-catechin conjugate: a potential treatment against the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A polysaccharide-flavonoid conjugate was developend and proposed for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
  
  
  METHODS
  The conjugate was synthesized by free radical grafting reaction between catechin and dextran. The chemical characterization of the conjugate was obtained by UV-Vis, 1H-NMR, FT-IR and GPC analyses, while the functionalization degree was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. The biological activity of the catechin-dextran conjugate was tested on two different cell lines derived from human pancreatic cancer (MIA PaCa-2 and PL45 cells), and the toxicity towards human pancreatic nestin-expressing cells evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both the cancer cell lines are killed when exposed to the conjugate, and undergo apoptosis after the incubation with catechin-dextran which resulted more effective in killing pancreatic tumor cells compared to the catechin alone. Moreover, our experimental data indicate that the conjugate was less cytotoxic to human pancreatic nestin-expressing cells which are considered a good model of non-neoplastic pancreatic cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The suitability of newly synthesized Dextran-Catechin conjugate in the treatment of PDAC was proved confirming the high potential application of the proposed macromolecula system in the cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: NEST Scuola Normale Superiore & Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR Piazza San Silvestro, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vittorio
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cirillo
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Iemma
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Turi
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jacchetti
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Curcio
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barbuti
authors.forename: Niccola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Funel
authors.forename: Ortensia Ilaria
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Puoci
authors.forename: Nevio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Picci
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001483:Base Sequence; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002392:Catechin / Q000737:chemistry*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D017931:DNA Primers; D003911:Dextrans / Q000737:chemistry*; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D017931:DNA Primers; D003911:Dextrans; D002392:Catechin