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SiO2@antisense molecules covered by nepetalactone, extracted from Nepeta gloeocephala, inhibits ILK phosphorylation and downstream PKB/AKT signaling in HeLa cells

Cancer Gene Therapy volume 24, pages 28–32 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

In this study, the anticancer property of SiO2@antisense molecules (SiO2@AMs) and SiO2@AM covered by nepetalactone (SiO2@AM/CN), extracted from Nepeta gloeocephala, was investigated. Here integrin-linked kinase (ILK) phosphorylation and protein kinase B/AKT (PKB/AKT) signaling was studied when HeLa cells were exposed to SiO2@AM and SiO2@AM/CN. First, N. gloeocephala was identified at the Iranian National Herbarium. Then, its essential oil (EO) was obtained by the hydrodistillation method. In the next step, 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone was extracted from the EO, based on the spectroscopic data. To obtain SiO2@AM/CN, 1 ml of SiO2@AM was mixed with extracted nepetalactone and then strongly shaken for 30 min. Finally, serial concentrations (100, 50, 25 and 12.5 μg ml−1) of SiO2@AM and SiO2@AM/CN were prepared and then exposed to HeLa cells (2 × 105 cells per ml) for 24 h at 37 °C. After incubation, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, cell-cycle analysis, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay and western blots were carried out. To find ILK phosphorylation and PKB/AKT signaling, the expression of threonine-173 (Thr-173), serine-246 (Ser-246), total ILK, AKT-Ser473, AKT-Thr308 and total AKT was investigated. HeLa cells that were treated with SiO2@AM/CN had G2/M arrest. Based on the TUNEL assay, many apoptotic cells have been shown when they were exposed to SiO2@AM/CN. Importantly, SiO2@AM/CN decreased ILK phosphorylation at Thr-173 and Ser-246 without affecting total ILK levels. Moreover, SiO2@AM/CN decreased AKT-Ser473 and AKT-Thr308 phosphorylation without affecting total PKB/AKT protein.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by Medical Biotechnology Research Center, Ashkezar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ashkezar, Yazd, Iran (2016). Also, we thank Garcia Fuente from Advanced Tech, Barcelona, Spain for his help in TUNEL, cell cycle and western blot.

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  1. Medical Biotechnology Research Center, Ashkezar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ashkezar, Iran

    M Dehghany Ashkezary & P Moradi

  2. Department of Medicine, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

    F Aboee-Mehrizi

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  1. M Dehghany Ashkezary
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Correspondence to M Dehghany Ashkezary.

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Dehghany Ashkezary, M., Aboee-Mehrizi, F. & Moradi, P. SiO2@antisense molecules covered by nepetalactone, extracted from Nepeta gloeocephala, inhibits ILK phosphorylation and downstream PKB/AKT signaling in HeLa cells. Cancer Gene Ther 24, 28–32 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2016.75

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