title: Spatiotemporal PFQNM visualization of the effect of suicide dendriplexes on dividing HeLa cells.
abstract: Suicide gene delivery is significant in cancer therapy but has not been fully investigated on a cellular scale. Here, Peak Force Quantitative Nanomechanical atomic force microscopy (PFQNM-AFM) was applied to visualize the effect of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase dendriplexes (G4AcFaHSTK) on the morphological and nanomechanical properties of individual live and dividing HeLa cells. Cells were then exposed to G4AcFaHSTK, followed by ganciclovir, and directly imaged by real-time PFQNM-AFM. Cell membrane liquefaction, cytoplasmic shrinkage, and cytoskeleton structure loss were observed during cell division. The average Young's modulus of the nuclear region increased with time as the cell continued from metaphase (6.29 kPa) to telophase (13.6 kPa) and then decreased (2.25 kPa) upon apoptosis. In contrast, cells exposed to either ganciclovir or G4AcFaHSTK alone have no changes. Thus, understanding the real-time effects of suicide dendriplexes on the cytoskeletal and nanomechanical behaviors of cancer cells may provide new methods for cancer treatment.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, College of Pharmacy-Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia; Bioavailability Center, National Organization for Drug Control and Research, Agouza, Giza, Egypt. Electronic address: hhasan@taibahu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Hosam G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Abdelhady
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, College of Pharmacy-Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hassan A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Abdel-Salam
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, College of Pharmacy-Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Esmaeel M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Niazy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Quast
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, College of Pharmacy-Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ahmed M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Effat
authors.affiliation: Cell Culture Laboratory, Egyptian Organization for Biological Products and Vaccines, Agouza, Giza, Egypt; Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Serag-Eldin I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Elbehairi
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D041722:Genes, Transgenic, Suicide; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D018139:Simplexvirus; D013937:Thymidine Kinase
chemical_list: D013937:Thymidine Kinase
keywords: Atomic force microscopy (AFM); Dendrimers; Dendriplexes; Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSTK); Peak Force Quantitative Nanomechanical (PFQNM); Young's modulus (YM)