Bioactive Materials

Bioactive Materials

Volume 6, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 326-332
Bioactive Materials

Gold nanoparticles inhibit activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts by disrupting communication from tumor and microenvironmental cells

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2020.08.009Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • OCs and TME cells promote the activation of ovarian CAFs.

  • GNPs of 20 nm in diameter inhibit ovarian CAFs activation induced by OCs and TME cells.

  • GNPs alter the levels of fibroblast activation or inactivation proteins secreted by OCs and TME cells.

Abstract

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a major constituent of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and an important contributor to cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. Regulation of CAF activation is a promising strategy to influence cancer outcomes. Here, we report that ovarian cancer cells (OCs) and TME cells promote the activation of ovarian CAFs, whereas gold nanoparticles (GNPs) of 20 nm in diameter inhibit the activation, as demonstrated by the changes in cell morphology, migration, and molecular markers. GNPs exert the effect by altering the levels of multiple fibroblast activation or inactivation proteins, such as TGF-β1, PDGF, uPA and TSP1, secreted by OCs and TME cells. Thus, GNPs represent a potential tool to help understand multicellular communications existing in the TME as well as devise strategies to disrupt the communication.

Keywords

Gold nanoparticle (GNP)
Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF)
Tumor microenvironment (TME)
Fibroblast activation
Morphology
Migration

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Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.