Anti-cancer effects of PLGA nanoparticles loaded with anbarnesa smoke organic extract on A2780 ovarian cancer cell line

ABSTRACT There are many traditional agents whose combination with new technologies can offer effective therapeutic impacts. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of PLGA nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with anbarnesa smoke organic extract (P-ASOE) against A2780 ovarian cancer cell line. Thus, nanoparticles were synthesised using W1/O/W2 method and characterised by FESEM, DLS and FTIR techniques. Cytotoxicity of P-ASOE on A2780 and healthy (HFF) cells was assessed using MTT assay. Acridine Orange/Propidium Iodide (AO/PI) staining, flow cytometry and expression profiles of P53, TNFα, CAS-3 and CAS-9 genes were recruited to evaluate the effect of P-ASOE on apoptosis of A2780 cells. The antiangiogenic effect of P-ASOE was studied through chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay as well as evaluation of VEGF and VEGFR gene expression. The histological effects of P-ASOE on healthy and cancerous tissues of mouse models were investigated. The results showed that the synthesised NPs had dose- and time-dependent cytotoxic effects on A2780 cells but not on HFF cells. In addition, all assays indicated pro-apoptotic effects of P-ASOE, which significantly reduced number and length of blood vessels as well as length and weight of chick embryos. The expression levels of VEGF and VEGFR genes were also significantly decreased under the influence of NPs. According to in vivo examinations, P-ASOE treatment reduced tumour size while having no significant histological effect on healthy tissues. All findings were in favour of the anti-cancer potential of P-ASOE against A2780 cancer cell line.