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 uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as a standardized regimen. To accomplish this, numerous anti-cancer drugs are used, which hamper the growth and development of cancer cells through diversified cellular pathways. However, due to different subtypes as well as the chemoresistance of tricky cancer cells, many drugs have been unable to kill them. To overcome this, the adoption of various new strategies is the need of the hour.
Here comes the role of nanotechnology, which came into light with the advancement and sophistication in the arena of science and technology. Nanotechnology deals with the creation of ultrafine particles called nanoparticles, which form a bridge between bulk materials and their atomic or molecular structures. With the annals of time, the interest in noble metal nanoparticles, such as gold and platinum, has increased due to their engrossing and uncanny properties. Recently, platinum compounds, such
as cisplatin, carboplatin,
oxaliplatin, heptaplatin, and so
forth, have been successfully
used as anti-cancer drugs to
treat various types of cancers
including breast cancer. Their
mode of action depends on
the platinum ions, which form
bonds with the DNA base,
leading to damage to the DNA
helix, cell cycle arrest, and thus
death due to the induction of
apoptosis.
Keeping this in mind,
we, at the Food Chemistry and Molecular Cancer Biology Lab, Alagappa University, are working toward the synthesis of noble platinum nanoparticles using green chemistry principles aiming to target different breast cancer cells. Our major objective is to create a platinum- based nano-theranostic system with superior efficacy, surface specificity, and less toxicity.
Ms. Puja Patel || 493
To achieve the same, we have successfully developed platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) of different shapes, such as nano-flowers, nano- spheres, nano-octopods, as well as nano- cubes coated with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) of different molecular weights. The polymeric PVP encapsulation assists nucleation, prevents agglomeration, and endows monodispersity to the PtNPs. Furthermore, the as-synthesized PVP-capped PtNPs have been successfully conjugated with anti-cancer drug doxorubicin to make a splendid nano-theranostic system. It is known that doxorubicin forms an important pillar of chemotherapy regimens, acts incredibly to beat breast cancer, and thus is considered to be a miracle chemotherapeutic drug. This inspired us to use it as a doping agent onto the PVP-capped PtNPs.
Our in vitro study on various breast cancer cell lines supports the fact that doxorubicin- doped PVP–PtNPs show superior anti-cancer
effects than the nascent PVP- capped PtNPs as revealed by the most prevalent MTT assay. To further know the mechanism of action of killing cancer cells, we first proceeded with various fluorescent studies. In this, various nucleic acid selective staining procedures, such as AO/EtBr and Hoechst, highlighted the fact that the treated cells died due to the onset of apoptosis. The dying apoptotic cells can be characterized by an orange
color (EtBr) due to leaky plasma membrane and nuclear membrane, which allows the dye to penetrate into the cytosol and nucleus, respectively. In contrast, the healthy live cells appear green due to the binding with AO stain. Similarly, the nuclear fragmentation and presence of pycnotic nuclei can be visualized through Hoechst staining, which
   It is a well-known fact that breast cancer is the utmost menace among women, causing morbidity and mortality worldwide. Nevertheless, its emergence is high in developing countries, including India.
  











































































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