The chemopreventive polyphenol Curcumin prevents hematogenous breast cancer metastases in immunodeficient mice

Dissemination of metastatic cells probably occurs long before diagnosis of the primary tumor. Metastasis during early phases of carcinogenesis in high risk patients is therefore a potential prevention target. The plant polyphenol Curcumin has been proposed for dietary prevention of cancer. We therefore examined its effects on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 in vitro and in a mouse metastasis model. Curcumin strongly induces apoptosis in MDA- MB- 231 cells in correlation with reduced activation of the survival pathway NF kappa B, as a consequence of diminished I kappa B and p65 phosphorylation. Curcumin also reduces the expression of major matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) due to reduced NF kappa B activity and transcriptional downregulation of AP-1. NF kappa B/p65 silencing is sufficient to downregulate c-jun and MMP expression. Reduced NF kappa B/AP-1 activity and MMP expression lead to diminished invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane and to a significantly lower number of lung metastases in immunodeficient mice after intercardiac injection of 231 cells (p=0.0035). 68% of Curcumin treated but only 17% of untreated animals showed no or very few lung metastases, most likely as a consequence of down-regulation of NF kappa B/AP-1 dependent MMP expression and direct apoptotic effects on circulating tumor cells but not on established metastases. Dietary chemoprevention of metastases appears therefore feasible. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Folate Decorated Dual Drug Loaded Nanoparticle: Role of Curcumin in Enhancing Therapeutic Potential of Nutlin-3a by Reversing Multidrug Resistance

Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular tumor in children. Malfunctioning of many signaling pathways regulating cell survival or apoptosis, make the disease more vulnerable. Notably, resistance to chemotherapy mediated by MRP-1, lung-resistance protein (LRP) is the most challenging aspect to treat this disease. Presently, much attention has been given to the recently developed anticancer drug nutlin-3a because of its non-genotoxic nature and potency to activate tumor suppressor protein p53. However, being a substrate of multidrug resistance protein MRP1 and Pgp its application has become limited. Currently, research has step towards reversing Multi drug resistance (MDR) by using curcumin, however its clinical relevance is restricted by plasma instability and poor bioavailability. In the present investigation we tried to encapsulate nutlin-3a and curcumin in PLGA nanoparticle (NPs) surface functionalized with folate to enhance therapeutic potential of nutlin-3a by modulating MDR. We document that curcumin can inhibit the expression of MRP-1 and LRP gene/protein in a concentration dependent manner in Y79 cells. In vitro cellular cytotoxicity, cell cycle analysis and apoptosis studies were done to compare the effectiveness of native drugs (single or combined) and single or dual drug loaded nanoparticles (unconjugated/folate conjugated). The result demonstrated an augmented therapeutic efficacy of targeted dual drug loaded NPs (Fol-Nut-Cur-NPs) over other formulation. Enhanced expression or down regulation of proapoptotic/antiapoptotic proteins respectively and down-regulation of bcl2 and NFκB gene/protein by Fol-Nut-Cur-NPs substantiate the above findings. This is the first investigation exploring the role of curcumin as MDR modulator to enhance the therapeutic potentiality of nutlin-3a, which may opens new direction for targeting cancer with multidrug resistance phenotype

The interaction of a gold atom with carbon nanohorn and carbon nanotube tips and their complexes with a CO molecule: A first principle calculation

The interactions of a gold atom with: (a) a single-wall carbon nanohorn (SWNH) conic tip; (b) with a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) tip; and (c) their complexes with a CO molecule were studied using first-principle calculations based on density functional theory. The analysis of the pyramidalization angle (θp) as well as the π-orbital misalignment angles indicate that there should be many reactive carbon sites on the tips of SWNH and SWNT. It was found that SWNH provides reactive sites that can more selectively interact with the target atom. We identified five sites on both the SWNT tip and the nanohorn where attachment of a gold atom leads to a stable complex. This metal is found to be bi-coordinated with the tip of SWNH, while it is mono-coordinated with the SWNT tip. The largest interaction energies are –10.75 kcal/mol and –16.17 kcal/mol, respectively. The CO probe molecule binds to Au on the Au/SWNH or Au/SWNT tips with interaction energies of –22.34 and –18.29 kcal/mol, respectively. The main contributions of the interaction with both carbon nanostructures stems from σ-donation and π-backbonding. The results suggest that SWNHs could be one of the promising candidates for the development of high-specifity nanosensors

Low energy electron attachment to CH3CN

Low energy electron attachment cross sections for acetonitrile (CH3CN) are reported in the energy range from about 0 up to 10 eV determined with an energy resolution of 140 meV. Electron attachment is shown to be a purely dissociative process with the production of the five anionic fragments: CH2CN−, CHCN−, CCN−, CN− and CH3− observed in two energy regions, the first between 1 and 4 eV, the second in excess of 6 eV. Quantum chemical and trajectory calculations have been carried out to complement the experimental results

Newly calculated absolute cross-section for the electron-impact ionization of C2H2+

New measurements of the cross-section for electron impact ionization of the molecular ion C2H2+ have been carried out recently. These data differ significantly from earlier data, because cross-sections corresponding to all the possible dissociative ionization processes were determined. The new data in conjunction with the significant discrepancies between the earlier data and the results of various calculations, which disagreed among themselves by a factor of 3, motivated a renewed attempt to apply the semi-classical Deutsch-Mark (DM) formalism to the calculation of the absolute electron-impact ionization cross-section of this molecular ion. A quantum chemical molecular orbital population analysis for both the neutral molecule and the ion revealed that in the case of C2H2+ the singly occupied molecular orbital (i.e. the "missing" electron) is highly localized near the site of a C atom in the molecule. This information is explicitly incorporated in our formalism. The results obtained by taking the ionic character directly into account are in excellent agreement with the recent experimental data

Fragmentation of allylmethylsulfide by chemical ionization: dependence on humidity and inhibiting role of water

We report on a previously unknown reaction mechanism involving water in the fragmentation reaction following chemical ionization. This result stems from a study presented here on the humidity-dependent and energy-dependent endoergic fragmentation of allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) upon protonation in a proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). The fragmentation pathways were studied with experimental (PTR-MS) and quantum chemical methods (polarizable continuum model (PCM), microhydration, studied at the MP2/6-311+G(3df,2p)//MP2/6-31G(d,p) level of theory). We report in detail on the energy profiles, reaction mechanisms, and proton affinities (G4MP2 calculations). In the discovered reaction mechanism, water reduces the fragmentation of protonated species in chemical ionization. It does so by direct interaction with the protonated species via covalent binding (C3H5+) or via association (AMS·H+). This stabilizes intermediate complexes and thus overall increases the activation energy for fragmentation. Water thereby acts as a reusable inhibitor (anticatalyst) in chemical ionization. Moreover, according to the quantum chemical (QC) results, when water is present in abundance it has the opposite effect and enhances fragmentation. The underlying reason is a concentration-dependent change in the reaction principle from active inhibition of fragmentation to solvation, which then enhances fragmentation. This amphoteric behavior of water is found for the fragmentation of C3H5+ to C3H3+, and similarly for the fragmentation of AMS·H+ to C3H5+. The results support humidity-dependent quantification efforts for PTR-MS and chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS). Moreover, the results should allow for a better understanding of ion-chemistry in the presence of wate

Crystal structures, thermogravimetric and magnetic properties of four organodiamine templated vanadium oxide frameworks: influences of diaminoalkane templates

A series of four diaminoalkane templated vanadium oxide polymeric frameworks, [(V2O8V2O2)-O-IV-O-V](C2H10N2), [V (2O8V2V)-O-IV O-2](C3H12N2), [(V4O10V2V)-O-IV O-4](C4H14N2) and [(V4O102O4)-O-IV-O-V-O-V](C5H16N2), have been successfully prepared under hydrothermal conditions. The crystal structures are fully characterized revealing layered structures composed of common inorganic building units, namely {(VO5)-O-IV} square pyramids and {(VO4)-O-V} tetrahedra. The layer registries are different depending on the molecular structure of the diaminoalkanes, and can be accounted for by the organic-inorganic interface interactions. The analysis of hydrogen bonds indicates their important role in directing two- and three-dimensional structural architectures. The influences of different diaminoalkanes are also apparent in both thermogravimetric and complex magnetic behaviors, and are discussed in details