RESUMO

UNLABELLED: Recent data have shown that synthetic polymers and nanomaterials display phenotypic effects in cells and signal transduction mechanisms involved in inflammation, differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. AIM: This article aims to investigate the effect of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) (PEO-PPO) block copolymers with a wide range of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications on apoptosis and/or cell immortalization, by flow cytometry and multiplex RT-PCR for bax, bcl-2, and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). RESULTS: PEO-PPO amphiphiles upregulated bax and hTERT and induced apoptosis of two human hepatoma cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: PEO-PPO block copolymers-considered safe for human use-can drastically alter gene expression profiles of genes related to apoptosis/cell proliferation.

Assuntos

Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/patologia , Polietilenos/farmacologia , Polipropilenos/farmacologia , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-bcl-2/genética , Tensoativos/farmacologia , Telomerase/genética , Proteína X Associada a bcl-2/genética , Antineoplásicos/química , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/tratamento farmacológico , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Ensaios de Seleção de Medicamentos Antitumorais , Humanos , Neoplasias Hepáticas/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Hepáticas/patologia , Polietilenos/química , Polipropilenos/química , RNA Mensageiro/genética , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Tensoativos/química , Células Tumorais Cultivadas