Effects of Combination Treatment of Cisplatin and Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on the BCL2L12 Gene in Prostate Cancer Cells

The combined therapy of cancer is more effective than using a single medication for the treatment of cancer. This study aimed at investigating the anticancer effects of cisplatin and cisplatin in combination with Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on the PC-3 prostate cancer cells.

The PC-3 cells were cultured in a RPMI1640 medium. Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay during 24, 48, and 72 h, and IC50 was determined. The RNA was extracted, and then the cDNA was synthesized. The expression level of BCL2L12 gene was compared to that of the TBP reference gene using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction method.

Cisplatin and cisplatin with TiO2 nanoparticles exerted a dose and time dependent inhibitory effect on the viability of PC-3 cells. The expressions of the BCL2L12 gene in cisplatin-treated PC-3 cells at 24, 48, and 72 h were 3.58, 0.08, and 0.17, respectively. Moreover, the corresponding values in cisplatin-treated cells with TiO2 nanoparticles (10μg/ml) were 0.09, 0.05, and 0.02 at 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively, and in cisplatin-treated cells with TiO2 nanoparticles (25μg/ml) were 0.54, 0.04, and 0.07 at 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively (P<0.05).

This study revealed that simultaneous treatment with cisplatin and TiO2 nanoparticles (10μg/ml) at low concentration (6.2 and 12.5) can cause more cell death than cisplatin treatment alone. This may be due to the facilitation of cisplatin entry into the cell in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles.