Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pancreatic and Gastric cancers are very aggressive and deadly types of cancer that require effective treatment strategies to stop their progression. Nano-drug delivery systems, like those using Auraptene-loaded GQD nanoparticles, play a crucial role in addressing this need by delivering targeted and controlled treatments to cancer cells, making treatment more effective, and reducing side effects. The study focused on investigating the effects of Auraptene, an efficient anticancer compound when loaded into Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) on types of human cancer cells. METHODS: To create auraptene-loaded graphene quantum dot nanoparticles (AGQD-NP) (Unmodified and modified types) a combination of hydrothermal and high-energy homogenization methods was used. The nanoparticles were characterized by conducting DLS (Dynamic light scattering), FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), FESEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron microscopy), and zeta potential analysis. bioactivity of AGQD-NP was assessed through tests, including antioxidant capacity measured by ABTS and DPPH scavenging abilities well as cytotoxicity tested using MTT assay on both human cancer cell lines and normal human vascular endothelial cells. RESULTS: The modified AGQD-NP (M-AGQD-NP) demonstrated antioxidant properties by neutralizing free radicals. They also displayed selective toxicity, towards human gastric adenocarcinoma cell-line (AGS) and human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PANC) cancer cells with IC50 values recorded at 78.8 µg/mL and 89.72 µg/mL respectively. The specific targeting of gastric cancer cells was evident from the differing IC(50) values compared to the Human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (Hella), and normal vascular endothelial cells (Huvec). Additionally, the induced apoptotic death, in the human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PANC) cancer cells was confirmed through AO/PI staining and Annexin-based flow cytometry revealing increased expression levels of P53, Caspase3, BAX, and Caspase8. CONCLUSION: In summary, the M-AGQD-NP have shown encouraging effects displaying antioxidant capabilities and a specific focus, on pancreatic and gastric cancer cells. These findings indicate uses for AGQD-NP as an efficient apoptosis inducer in cancer treatment. Additional In-vivo researches are required to validate their effectiveness, in living organisms.