Gold nanoparticles as therapeutic agent for radiotherapy of PC3 prostate cancer cell line

Radiotherapy (RT) is a therapeutic modality that deliver a precise dose of ionizing radiation in a specific tumour volume, promoting the irradiation of tumor cells with as minimal damage as possible in surrounding normal tissues. Besides the evolution of equipment and technology, this therapy still has some problems related with radioresistance, which consequently increase the recurrence at 5 years. Over the years, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have attracted a lot of interest in cancer therapies due their unique chemical, optical and physical properties. So, it was synthetized two different types of AuNPs spherical (AuNPsp) and rods (AuNPr) for treat human prostate cancer cell line (PC3) and it was observed cell behavior when treated cells were irradiated with three fractions of 2,5 Gy. AuNPs were characterized using UV-Vis and TEM to confirm their size and shape. After, cells were treated with different concentrations of AuNPs from 0 to 1.0 mM during 24h. The results showed that none of the forms of AuNPs show signals of cytotoxicity until 1.0 mM, with exception of 1mM of AuNPr, where cells exhibit cytotoxicity around ~10%. Taken all together, AuNPsp and AuNPr demonstrated be effective to reduce the cell viability when associated to RT. Comparing both structures, AuNPr demonstrated a higher dose-dependency with and without radiation and under irradiation the inhibition of cell growth is higher when compared to control (no treatment). These results demonstrate for the first time the possibility of different forms of AuNPs can be used as potential radiosensitizer for prostate cancer cells.Sílvia Soares is grateful for the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (grant reference SFRH/BD/138271/2018 and thanks the kind collaboration of all those involved in the radiotherapy service at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João for carrying out radiotherapy treatmentsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nanotheranostics with gold nanoparticles applied to Radiotherapy

Sílvia Soares is grateful for the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (grant reference: SFRH/BD/138271/2018) and thanks the kind collaboration of all those involved in the radiotherapy service at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João for carrying out radiotherapy treatments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) as a potential therapeutic Strategy in COVID-19 Patients: Literature Research

In 2019, an outbreak of an unknown coronavirus – SARS-CoV-2 – responsible for COVID-19 disease, was first reported in China, and evolved into a pandemic of huge dimensions and raised serious concerns for global health. The number of critical cases continues to increase dramatically, while vaccines and specific treatments are not yet available. There are several strategies currently being studied for the treatment of adverse symptoms of COVID-19, that encompass Acute Lung Injury (ALI)/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), extensive pulmonary inflammation, cytokine storm, and pulmonary edema, due to virus-induced pneumonia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Application of gold nanoparticles as radiosensitizer for metastatic prostate cancer cell lines

More than 50% of all prostate cancer (PCa) patients are treated by radiotherapy (RT). Radioresistance and cancer recurrence are two consequences of the therapy and are related to dose heterogeneity and non-selectivity between normal and tumoral cells. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) could be used as potential radiosensitizers to overcome these therapeutic limitations of RT. This study assessed the biological interaction of different morphologies of AuNPs with ionizing radiation (IR) in PCa cells. To achieve that aim, three different amine-pegylated AuNPs were synthesized with distinct sizes and shapes (spherical, AuNPsp-PEG, star, AuNPst-PEG, and rods, AuNPr-PEG) and viability, injury and colony assays were used to analyze their biological effect on PCa cells (PC3, DU145, and LNCaP) when submitted to the accumulative fraction of RT. The combinatory effect of AuNPs with IR decreased cell viability and increased apoptosis compared to cells treated only with IR or untreated cells. Additionally, our results showed an increase in the sensitization enhancement ratio by cells treated with AuNPs and IR, and this effect is cell line dependent. Our findings support that the design of AuNPs modulated their cellular behavior and suggested that AuNPs could improve the RT efficacy in PCa cells.The author is grateful for the financial support of Foundation for Science and Technology (grant reference: SFRH/BD/138271/2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metabolic disruption of gold nanospheres, nanostars and nanorods in human metastatic prostate cancer cells

Nanomaterials offer a broad spectrum of applications in biomedicine. The shapes of gold nanoparticles could modulate tumor cell behavior. Spherical (AuNPsp), stars (AuNPst) and rods (AuNPr) shapes of polyethylene glycol coated-gold nanoparticles (AuNPs-PEG) were synthesized. Metabolic activity, cellular proliferation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured and the impact of AuNPs-PEG in metabolic enzymes function was evaluated by RT-qPCR in PC3, DU145, and LNCaP prostate cancer cells. All AuNPs were internalized, and the different morphologies of AuNPs showed to be an essential modulator of metabolic activity. For PC3 and DU145, the metabolic activity of AuNPs was found to rank in the following order from lowest to highest: AuNPsp-PEG, AuNPst-PEG, and AuNPr-PEG. Regarding LNCaP cells, the AuNPst-PEG were less toxic, followed by AuNPsp-PEG and AuNPr-PEG, but it seems not to be dose-dependent. The proliferation was lower in AuNPr-PEG in PC3 and DU145 cells but was stimulated around 10% in most conditions (0.001–0.1 mM) in LNCaP cells (not statistically significant). For 1 mM, LNCaP cells showed a significant decrease in proliferation only for AuNPr-PEG. The outcomes of the current study demonstrated that different AuNPs conformations influence cell behavior, and the correct size and shape must be chosen considering its final application in the field of nanomedicine.The author is grateful for the financial support of Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through project reference—2022.09032.PTDC and also to FCT through COMPETE to the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-024325.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The influence of miRNAs on radiotherapy treatment in prostate cancer - A systematic review

In the last years, extensive investigation on miRNomics have shown to have great advantages in cancer personalized medicine regarding diagnosis, treatment and even clinical outcomes. Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common male cancer and about 50% of all PCa patients received radiotherapy (RT), despite some of them develop radioresistance. Here, we aim to provide an overview on the mechanisms of miRNA biogenesis and to discuss the functional impact of miRNAs on PCa under radiation response. As main findings, 23 miRNAs were already identified as being involved in genetic regulation of PCa cell response to RT. The mechanisms of radioresistance are still poorly understood, despite it has been suggested that miRNAs play an important role in cell signaling pathways. Identification of miRNAs panel can be thus considered an upcoming and potentially useful strategy in PCa diagnosis, given that radioresistance biomarkers, in both prognosis and therapy still remains a challenge.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia | Ref. SFRH/BD/138271/201

Kaempferol: a key emphasis to its anticancer potential

A marked decrease in human cancers, including breast cancer, bone cancer, and cervical cancer, has been linked to the consumption of vegetable and fruit, and the corresponding chemoprotective e ect has been associated with the presence of several active molecules, such as kaempferol. Kaempferol is a major flavonoid aglycone found in many natural products, such as beans, bee pollen, broccoli, cabbage, capers, cauliflower, chia seeds, chives, cumin, moringa leaves, endive, fennel, and garlic. Kaempferol displays several pharmacological properties, among them antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and antidiabetic activities, and is being applied in cancer chemotherapy. Specifically, kaempferol-rich food has been linked to a decrease in the risk of developing some types of cancers, including skin, liver, and colon. The mechanisms of action include apoptosis, cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, downregulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathways. In this sense, this article reviews data from experimental studies that investigated the links between kaempferol and kaempferol-rich food intake and cancer prevention. Even though growing evidence supports the use of kaempferol for cancer prevention, further preclinical and clinical investigations using kaempferol or kaempferol-rich foods are of pivotal importance before any public health recommendation or formulation using kaempferol.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Starch-based films doped with porphyrinoid photosensitizers for active skin wound healing

Starch is a biodegradable and biocompatible carbohydrate that, when combined with bioactive molecules, can be processed as biomimetic platforms with enhanced performance, allowing its use as active wound dressing materials. Porphyrinoid photosensitizers can tune the physicochemical/functional profile of biomacromolecules, allowing their use in anti-infective strategies. In this work, the feasibility of using the cationic 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin tetraiodide (TMPyP) to enhance the physicochemical, mechanical, antimicrobial performance, and wound healing ability of casted starch-based films was studied. TMPyP conferred a reddish coloration to the films, maintaining their pristine transparency. It increased by 87 % the films hydrophobicity and, depending on the TMPyP used, conferred mobility to the starch polymeric chains. Starch/TMPyP-based films effectively photoinactivated Escherichia coli (>99.99 %) and favored the wound healing process, even in the absence of light. Therefore, the incorporation of TMPyP into starch-based formulations revealed to be a promising strategy to tune the films compaction degree while giving rise to water tolerant and photosensitive biomaterials that can act as multitarget antimicrobial medical dressings and glycocarriers of active compounds relevant for effective skin wound healing.The authors thank to University of Aveiro and FCT/MCT for the financial support provided to CICECO (UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020, LA/P/0006/2020), LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020), CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020, LA/P/0094/2020), CEB (UIDB/04469/2020), LABBELS (LA/P/0029/2020), and to projects PORP2PS (EXPL/QUI-QOR/0586/2021) and PREVINE (FCT-PTDC/ASP-PES/29576/2017), through national funds (OE) and where applicable co-financed by the FEDER - Operational Thematic Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization - COMPETE 2020, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. Thanks are also due to the Portuguese NMR and Mass Networks. FCT also funded ASMJ PhD grant (2021.06854.BD), Investigator FCT program (PF, IF/00300/2015), and the Scientific Employment Stimulus program (IG, CEECIND/00430/2017; AR, 2021.02803.CEECIND). NMMM thanks FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016 (CDL-CTTRI-048-88-ARH/2018). The authors also acknowledge to POTATOPLASTIC project (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017938), financed by FEDER through POCI, to Isolago – Indústria de Plásticos, S. A., the project leader, and to A Saloinha, Lda. company for providing the starch-rich potato washing slurries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Prevalence of Nine Established Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Southern European Population

The evaluation of the gender-specific prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors across socioeconomic position (SEP) categories may unravel mechanisms involved in the development of coronary heart disease. Using a sample of 1704 community dwellers of a Portuguese urban center aged 40 years or older, assessed in 1999–2003, we quantified the age-standardized prevalence of nine established cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, sedentariness, abdominal obesity, poor diet, excessive alcohol intake and depression) across SEP and gender categories. Data on individual education and occupation were collected by questionnaire and used to characterize SEP. The prevalence of seven out of nine well-established risk factors was higher in men. Among women, the prevalence of most of the studied risk factors was higher in lower SEP groups. The main exception was smoking, which increased with education and occupation levels. Among men, socioeconomic gradients were less clear, but lower SEP was associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes, excessive alcohol intake and depression in a graded mode. The historical cultural beliefs and practices captured throughout the lifecourse frame the wide socioeconomic gradients discernible in our study conducted in an unequal European developed population. While men were more exposed to most risk factors, the clearer associations between SEP and risk factors among women support that their adoption of particular healthy behaviors is more dependent on material and symbolic conditions. To fully address the issue of health inequalities, interventions within the health systems should be complemented with population-based policies specifically designed to reduce socioeconomic gradients