Abstract
Although current therapies for cancer patients have saved many lives, finding more effective remedies is still a challenge. To that end, we have begun to explore the potential of cross-linked quaternized chitosan nanoparticles (QCNPs) for synergistic improved therapeutic efficacy, effective delivery, and controllable release of O. europaea phenolic extract (OOPE), targeting liver and colon cancers. QCNPs showed a high percentage of OOPE loading content, encapsulation efficiency, and physicochemical stability, as evident by their high zeta potential. Additionally, QCNPs displayed pH-dependent OOPE release properties. In vitro studies demonstrated that the anticancer potentials of OOPE were significantly increased after encapsulation, with higher cytotoxicity towards HepG2 cells than Caco2 cells. A flow-cytometric study showed that OOPE-QCNPs increased the fraction of HepG2 cells in the sub-G1 phase and decreased the S phase proportion. In addition, OOPE-QCNPs can block DNA topoisomerase IIβ. Interestingly, OOPE-QCNPs' ingredients damage liver cancer cells by raising the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, a sign of intrinsic apoptosis. In conclusion, QCNPs may be an effective and safe option for the controllable delivery of natural bioactive extracts targeting long-term cancer therapy. Therefore, further research is warranted to investigate the efficacy and safety of these nanoplatforms for various cancer therapies.
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