article · Cells
Berberine is a natural compound with anticancer properties, but its effectiveness is constrained by poor solubility and bioavailability. To address this, silver and selenium nanoparticles loaded with berberine were evaluated against human liver cancer cells and normal mouse liver cells in laboratory tests. Both nanoparticle formulations demonstrated substantially stronger cytotoxic effects against cancer cells than unprocessed berberine, with selenium nanoparticles showing the highest potency. The formulations triggered programmed cell death by altering regulatory proteins, increasing inflammatory markers, elevating oxidative stress, and arresting the cell cycle. Additionally, treatment with these nanoparticles reduced cancer cell migration. The improved anticancer efficacy of the nanoformulations is linked to enhanced solubility and bioavailability, with selenium nanoparticles displaying particular strength due to the inherent anticancer properties of selenium.
Liver cancer treatments often require compounds that can kill malignant cells while overcoming pharmacological barriers such as poor solubility. By demonstrating that natural compounds like berberine can be enhanced through nanotechnology, this research highlights how formulation science can drastically improve the potency of plant-derived molecules. This approach offers a potential route for designing more effective cancer therapies using biologically active materials.
This work points towards potential applications in liver cancer drug development, particularly in pharmaceutical nanomedicine formulations. The primary prospective users would be pharmaceutical companies and oncology researchers seeking more potent delivery methods for natural bioactive ingredients. Because the findings are derived exclusively from in vitro testing on cultured cell lines, this research represents early-stage laboratory exploration that remains several stages away from clinical or commercial use.
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A well-known natural ingredient found in several medicinal plants, berberine (Ber), has been shown to have anticancer properties against a range of malignancies. The limited solubility and bioavailability of berberine can be addressed using Ber-loaded nanoparticles. In this study, we compared the in vitro cytotoxic effects of both Ber-loaded silver nanoparticles (Ber-AgNPs) and Ber-loaded selenium nanoparticles (Ber-SeNPs) in the human liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and mouse normal liver cells (BNL). The IC<sub>50</sub> values in HepG2 for berberine, Ber-AgNPs, Ber-SeNPs, and cisplatin were 26.69, 1.16, 0.04, and 0.33 µg/mL, respectively. Our results show that Ber and its Ag and Se nanoparticles exerted a good antitumor effect against HepG2 cells by inducing apoptosis via upregulating p53, Bax, cytosolic cytochrome C levels, and caspase-3 activity, and the down-regulation of Bcl-2 levels. Similarly, incubation with Ber and both Ber-NPs (Ag and Se) led to a significant dose-dependent elevation in inflammatory markers' (TNF-α, NF-κB, and COX-2) levels compared to the control group. In addition, it led to the arrest of the G1 cell cycle by depleting the expression of <i>cyclin D1</i> and <i>CDK-2</i> mRNA. Furthermore, Ber and both Ber-NPs (Ag and Se) caused a significant dose-dependent increase in LDH activity in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, our findings offer evidence that Ber and its nanoparticles intensified oxidative stress in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, the migration rate of cells subjected to berberine and its nanoforms was notably decreased compared to that of control cells. It can be inferred that Ber nanoparticles exhibited superior anticancer efficacy against HepG2 compared to unprocessed Ber, perhaps due to their improved solubility and bioavailability. Furthermore, Ber-SeNPs exhibited greater efficacy than Ber-AgNPs, possibly as a result of the inherent anticancer characteristics of selenium.
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DOI: 10.3390/cells13030287
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