title: Selective inhibition of liver cancer growth realized by the intrinsic toxicity of a quantum dot-lipid complex.
abstract: Using the intrinsic toxicity of nanomaterials for anticancer therapy is an emerging concept. In this work, we discovered that CdTe/CdS quantum dots, when coated with lipids (QD-LC) instead of popular liposomes, polymers, or dendrimers, demonstrated extraordinarily high specificity for cancer cells, which was due to the difference in the macropinocytosis uptake pathways of QD-LC between the cancer cells and the normal cells. QD-LC-induced HepG2 cell apoptosis was concomitant with the activation of the JNK/caspase-3 signaling pathway. Moreover, QD-LC treatment resulted in a delay in the latent period for microtumor formation of mouse hepatocarcinoma H22 cells and inhibited tumor growth, with a reduction of 53.2% in tumor volume without toxicity in major organs after intratumoral administrations to tumor-bearing mice. Our results demonstrate that QD-LC could be a very promising theranostic agent against liver cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fengying
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuanang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Van't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China ; School of Nursing, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D008055:Lipids; D018036:Selenium Compounds; C058667:cadmium selenide; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride
keywords: CdTe/CdS quantum dot-plipid complex; intrinsic nanotoxicity; liver cancer therapy; macropinocytosis; selectivity