Polylactic acid-curcumin affects colon cancer cell viability and migration

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is considered one of the most common cancer-related death worldwide. However, current preventive treatments for CRC are limited and are associated with severe side effects. Therefore, there is a crucial need of evolving alternative strategies. Recently, the integration of targeted therapies with drugs has largely expanded the treatment of (CRC) which has resulted in survival gains and improved outcomes. Particularly, curcumin (CUR) is the yellow polyphenol pigment that is extracted from the rhizomes of turmeric plant of the ginger family (Curcuma longa). Studies have shown that CUR is associated with several biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral and most importantly, anticancer potential and it can be encapsulated with polymers including polylactic acid (PLA) that might enhance its effects. However, further research is highly recommended to validate the anticancer potential contributions of this encapsulated drug. The aim of our study is to highlight the behavior of Caco-2 colon cancer cells including cell viability, cell migration and apoptotic rate upon PLA-CUR treatment. First, Trypan blue exclusion assay was performed in order to study the viability of Caco-2 cells. Then, Wound healing assay was done in order to investigate the migration rate of Caco-2 cells. Finally, Annexin V/PI Staining Assay Based on Flow Cytometry was conducted to assess the apoptotic rate of Caco-2 cells after their exposure to PLA-CUR. Our results have shown that cell viability and cell migration was reduced upon PLA-CUR treatments with different concentrations compared to control cells. However, the apoptotic rate was not affected by the drug encapsulation. We noticed that (625 – 1250μg/ml) is the optimal range of PLA-CUR concentrations, that is higher than that of free-CUR (50 – 100 μg/ml). These results raise questions regarding the efficiency rate of encapsulation. Thus, our work suggests that PLA-CUR can affect colon cancer cell viability, migration without any effect on the apoptotic rate. Further studies should be reported in order to elucidate the efficient encapsulation rate of PLA-CUR that might be a major target for colon cancer therapy in the future.