Bovine serum albumin protected gold nanozymes as a novel anti-cancer nanodrug for acute T-type lymphoblastic leukemia treatment via effect on the expression of anti-apoptotic genes

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, the bovine serum albumin protected gold nanozymes (BSA-Au nanozymes) were utilized as a novel nanodrug for treatment of acute T-type lymphoblastic leukemia (Jurkat) by production of excessive ROS and effect on the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. The effect of BSA-Au nanozymes on the Bcl-2 expression and survivin in the Jurkat cell line was checked. The results showed that the expression of anti-apoptotic genes was significantly reduced after treatment of the Jurkat cell line with the BSA-Au nanozymes (p-value of 0.001) as the potential nanodrug while their expression in the normal PBMC was not affected by the nanodrug. Moreover, the cytotoxic effect of the developed nanodrug on the Jurkat cell line was evaluated which illustrated that survival rate in the studied cell line reaches its minimum value (100% lethality, 0.0% survival) after treatment for 48 h. The IC50 for the nanodrug was calculated at 0.05 mM of the developed nanodrug. Overall, the BSA-Au nanozymes can be used as the nanodrug for treatment of T-type lymphoblastic leukemia via reducing the expression of anti-apoptotic genes, increasing the effect of common anticancer drugs such as Adriamycin and ara-C, and consequently increasing the survival of patients with leukemia.