Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy

GSH -responsive nanoparticles in the treatment of tumor cells

4^th International Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy

August 10-12, 2015 London, UK

Stefania Pizzimenti

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Stem Cell Res Ther

Abstract:

Cancer cells which develop resistance toward chemotherapeutic drugs become highly adapted to intrinsic oxidative stress by
up-regulating their antioxidant systems which in turn can increase their capacity for drug inactivation. The major player in
oxidative adaptation of cancer cells is glutathione (GSH). Doxorubicin is one of the most widely used drugs for treatment of cancers
which acts by poisoning Topoisomerase-II by forming adducts with DNA and by inducing oxidative stress. However, doxorubicin
use is limited by cardiac and kidney toxicity and by drug resistance. We have recently developed a new class of cyclodextrin nano
sponges that are GSH-responsive (GSH-NSs) and able to release anticancer drugs in the presence of high GSH concentrations similar
to those detected in cancer chemo-resistant cells. In the present paper, we loaded GSH-NSs with doxorubicin and tested its toxic
effect in cells with various GSH concentrations. The obtained results demonstrated that doxorubicin loaded GSH-NSs inhibited cell
viability and topoisomerase activity and induced DNA damage with higher effectiveness than free drug in the cells with high GSH
content whereas in the cells with low GSH-content their action was similar to that displayed by the free drug. Furthermore, GSHNSs,
loaded with low doses of doxorubicin inhibited clonogenic growth more than free doxorubicin, thus allowing the reduction
of the effective doses. These characteristics indicate that GSH-NSs can be a suitable drug delivery carrier for future applications in
cancer therapy.

Biography :

Stefania Pizzimenti has completed her PhD in Experimental and Molecular Pathology and Post graduate degree in Clinical Pathology at the University of Torino, Italy.
She was Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany and at the Institute of General Pathology,
University of Milano, Italy. Since 2008, she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Torino. She is the author of more than 40 papers in reputed journals and Editorial
Board Member of several journals like “SM Journal of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine”, “Journal of Pediatric Oncology” and “ISRN Cell Biology”.