title: Synergistic Effect of Cold Atmospheric Plasma and Drug Loaded Core-shell Nanoparticles on Inhibiting Breast Cancer Cell Growth.
abstract: Nano-based drug delivery devices allowing for effective and sustained targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to solid tumors have revolutionized cancer treatment. As an emerging biomedical technique, cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), an ionized non-thermal gas mixture composed of various reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species, and UV photons, shows great potential for cancer treatment. Here we seek to develop a new dual cancer therapeutic method by integrating promising CAP and novel drug loaded core-shell nanoparticles and evaluate its underlying mechanism for targeted breast cancer treatment. For this purpose, core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized via co-axial electrospraying. Biocompatible poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) was selected as the polymer shell to encapsulate anti-cancer therapeutics. Results demonstrated uniform size distribution and high drug encapsulation efficacy of the electrosprayed nanoparticles. Cell studies demonstrated the effectiveness of drug loaded nanoparticles and CAP for synergistic inhibition of breast cancer cell growth when compared to each treatment separately. Importantly, we found CAP induced down-regulation of metastasis related gene expression (VEGF, MTDH, MMP9, and MMP2) as well as facilitated drug loaded nanoparticle uptake which may aid in minimizing drug resistance-a major problem in chemotherapy. Thus, the integration of CAP and drug encapsulated nanoparticles provides a promising tool for the development of a new cancer treatment strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Se-Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Dayun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keidar
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.|Department of Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Lijie Grace
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000188:drug therapy; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D058626:Plasma Gases; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid