Abstract
Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a carbohydrate-binding protein, that promotes angiogenesis through mediating angiogenic growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF). There is strong evidence confirming FGF involvement in tumor growth and progression by disrupting cell proliferation and angiogenesis. In this study, we investigated the effect of β-cyclodextrin:everolimus:FGF-7 inclusion complex (Complex) on Caco-2 cell migration, cell motility and colony formation. In addition, we examined the inhibitory effect of the Complex on the circulating proteins; Gal-3 and FGF-7. Swiss Target Prediction concluded that Gal-3 and FGF are possible targets for β-CD. Results of the chemotaxis cell migration assay on Caco-2 cell line revealed that the Complex has higher reduction in cell migration (78.3%) compared to everolimus (EV) alone (58.4%) which is possibly due to the synergistic effect of these molecules when used as a combined treatment. Moreover, the Complex significantly decreased the cell motility in cell scratch assay, less than 10% recovery compared to the control which has ~ 45% recovery. The Complex inhibited colony formation by ~ 75% compared to the control. Moreover, the Complex has the ability to inhibit Gal-3 with minimum inhibitory concentration of 33.46 and 41 for β-CD and EV, respectively. Additionally, β-CD and β-CD:EV were able to bind to FGF-7 and decreased the level of FGF-7 more than 80% in cell supernatant. This confirms Swiss Target Prediction result that predicted β-CD could target FGF. These findings advance the understanding of the biological effects of the Complex which reduced cell migration, cell motility and colony formation and it is possibly due to inhibiting circulating proteins such as; Gal-3 and FGF-7.