title: Dendrosomal nanocurcumin and p53 overexpression synergistically trigger apoptosis in glioblastoma cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Glioblastoma is the most lethal tumor of the central nervous system. Here, we aimed to evaluate the effects of exogenous delivery of p53 and a nanoformulation of curcumin called dendrosomal curcumin (DNC), alone and in combination, on glioblastoma tumor cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  MTT assay was exploited to measure the viability of U87-MG cells against DNC treatment. Cells were separately subjected to DNC treatment and transfected with p53-containing vector and then were co-exposed to DNC and p53 overexpression[A GA1][B2]. Annexin-V-FLUOS staining followed by flow cytometry and real-time PCR were applied to examine apoptosis and analyze the expression levels of the genes involved in cell cycle and oncogenesis, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of cell viability assay through MTT indicated that DNC inhibits the proliferation of U87-MG cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Apoptosis evaluation revealed that p53 overexpression accompanied by DNC treatment can act in a synergistic manner to significantly enhance the number of apoptotic cells (90%) compared with their application alone (15% and 38% for p53 overexpression and DNC, respectively). Also, real-time PCR data showed that the concomitant exposure of cells to both DNC and p53 overexpression leads to an enhanced expression of GADD45 and a reduced expression of NF-κB and c-Myc.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of the current study suggest that our combination strategy, which merges two detached gene (p53) and drug (curcumin) delivery systems into an integrated platform, may represent huge potential as a novel and efficient modality for glioblastoma treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Reihaneh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Keshavarz
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bakhshinejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sadegh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Babashah
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sadeghizadeh
keywords: Apoptosis; Dendrosome; Glioblastoma Nanocurcumin; U87-MG cell line; p53