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Effects of chemically modified nanostructured PLGA on functioning of lung and breast cancer cells

Authors Zhang L, Webster TJ 

Received 13 December 2012

Accepted for publication 14 January 2013

Published 16 May 2013 Volume 2013:8(1) Pages 1907—1919

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S41570

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 4



Lijuan Zhang,1 Thomas J Webster2

1Department of Chemistry, 2School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA


Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanotopographies with alginate or chitosan protein preadsorption on the functioning of healthy and cancerous lung and breast cells, including adhesion, proliferation, apoptosis, and release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which promotes tumor angiogenesis and secretion.
Methods: We used a well established cast-mold technique to create nanoscale surface features on PLGA. Some of the nanomodified PLGA films were then exposed to alginate and chitosan. Surface roughness and the presence of protein was confirmed by atomic force microscopy. Surface energy was quantified by contact angle measurement.
Results: Nanostructured PLGA surfaces with 23 nm features decreased synthesis of VEGF in both lung and breast cancer cells compared with conventional PLGA. Preadsorbing alginate further decreased cancer cell function, with nanostructured PLGA preadsorbed with alginate achieving the greatest decrease in synthesis of VEGF in both lung and breast cancer cells. In contrast, compared with nonmodified smooth PLGA, healthy cell functions were either not altered (ie, breast) or were enhanced (ie, lung) by use of nanostructured features and alginate or chitosan protein preadsorption.
Conclusion: Using this technique, we developed surface nanometric roughness and modification of surface chemistry that could selectively decrease breast and lung cancer cell functioning without the need for chemotherapeutics. This technique requires further study in a wide range of anticancer and regenerative medicine applications.

Keywords: breast, lung, cancer, nanotechnology, alginate, chitosan

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