Cationic Nanoparticles Containing Cationic Peptide Cargo Synergistically Induce Cellular Reactive Oxygen Species and Cell Death in HepG2 Cells

摘要

Previous reports have suggested that cationic nanoparticles (NPs)-consisting of cationic monovalent lipids, such as 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP), induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS-mediated toxicity in cells. We have investigated the effects of DOTAP-based NPs (dNPs) containing cationic peptide (cPep) cargo on HepG2 cells. Compared with cargo-free dNPs, treatment with cPep-dNPs containing peptides composed of lysine (or arginine) residues further stimulated the production of cellular ROS. Concomitantly, the cell viability was more decreased by the treatment with cPep-dNPs. A cationic peptide composed of 6-10 lysine residues showed the most effective synergistic induction of ROS. However, dNPs encapsulating neutral peptide consisted of alanine residues did not elicit synergistic ROS generation or cell death. The present study suggests that a cationic peptide-NP system might effectively induce cancer cell death through the production of ROS in the absence of any other therapeutic cancer reagents.