Cytotoxicity of Silica Nanoparticles with Transcaucasian Nose-Horned Viper, Vipera ammodytes transcaucasiana, Venom on U87MG and SHSY5Y Neuronal Cancer Cells

Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2018 Oct;186(2):350-357. doi: 10.1007/s12010-018-2742-2. Epub 2018 Apr 3.

Abstract

Highly bioactive compounds of the snake venom make them particular sources for anticancer agent development. They contain very rich peptide-protein structures. Therefore, they are very susceptible to environmental conditions such as temperature, pH, and light. In this study, Vipera ammodytes transcaucasiana venom was encapsulated in PAMAM-G4 dendrimer by sol-gel method in order to prevent degradation of venom contents from the environmental conditions. For this purpose, nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel methodology and SEM analyses were performed. U87MG and SHSY5Y neuronal cancer cell lines were treated with different concentrations of venom-containing nanoparticles and cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay. IC50 values of nanoparticles with snake venom were calculated as 37.24 and 44.64 μg/ml for U87MG and SHSY5Y cells, respectively. The IC50 values of nanoparticles with snake venom were calculated as 10.07 and 7.9 μg/ml for U87MG and SHSY5Y cells, respectively. As a result, nanoparticles with V. a. transcaucasiana venom showed remarkably high cytotoxicity. Encapsulation efficiency of nanoparticles with 1 mg/ml snake venom was determined as %67 via BCA™ protein analysis. In conclusion, this method is found to be convenient and useful for encapsulating snake venom as well as being suitable for drug delivery systems.

Keywords: Cytotoxicity; Encapsulation; Nerve cells; Snake venom; Sol-gel.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Dendrimers / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Nanoparticles / toxicity*
  • Neurons / drug effects*
  • Nylons / chemistry
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Tetrazolium Salts / chemistry
  • Thiazoles / chemistry
  • Viper Venoms / chemistry
  • Viper Venoms / toxicity*

Substances

  • Dendrimers
  • Nylons
  • PAMAM-G4
  • Tetrazolium Salts
  • Thiazoles
  • Viper Venoms
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • thiazolyl blue