Snake venoms (SnVs) are mixture of numerous proteins and peptides, and several studies have demonstrated the therapeutic values of some bioactive compounds extracted from SnVs on various cancer cell lines, as well as in some models in vivo as cytotoxic, anti-tumour and apoptosis-inducing agents. In the current study, we evaluated the anticancer potential of crude Cerastes cerastes snake venom conjugated with chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) on hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HEPG2) at different concentrations for 24-hrs incubation through performing MTT assay and using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) for investigations. Also, some measurements were carried out on CSNPs to examine their stability, surface charge and detect the appropriate size for using as drug carrier through zetasizer instrument which gave some fundamental information about Nanoparticles (NPs); as average zetapotential, average size, and polydispersity index (PDI), also NPs were examined morphologically by using TEM. The cells were incubated for 24-hrs with venom-conjugated NPs for MTT cell viability assay and results revealed significant cytotoxic potency of venom-conjugated NPs. The determined IC50 of venom-conjugated NPs was 0.709 µg/ml and ultrastructural investigations of HEPG2 cells treated with venom-conjugated NPs at three different doses 1/2 IC50, IC50 and 2IC50 for 24-hrs showed some degrees of necrosis and various cellular alterations. The venom-conjugated NPs proved high potency against HEPG2 cells after 24-hrs treatment and in a dose-dependent manner. On the contrary, there had been non-significant cytotoxic effect of free low molecular weight CSNPs (LMWT-CSNPs) on HEPG2 cells.
Key words: Snake venoms, Cerastes Cerastes, HEPG2, Chitosan, Nanoparticles, Anticancer
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