Effect of topotycan and zinc oxide nanoparticles combination on cytotoxicity and P53 gene expression against breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women worldwide. Today, nanoparticles are one of the hopes of treatment and diagnosis of many diseases, including cancer. the The present study aimed to explore the effect of topotycan and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) combination on cytotoxicity and P53 gene expression in MCF7 breast cancer cells. Materials and Methods: Cancerous MCF7 cell line were treated with different concentrations of ZnONPs and topotecan as an anti-cancer drug, separately, as well as combined formulation. Then, the cell viability was evaluated using MTT assay. The expression level of P53 gene was evaluated in treated cells via real time PCR after RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis. Results: According to MTT results, the ZnONPs and topotecan significantly decreased the viability of MCF7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Also, the combined effect of ZnONPS and topotecan on the MCF7 cell line at concentrations of 45 mol/ml of zinc and different concentrations of topotecan had an additional toxic effect. Our data revealed that mRNA level of P53 was up regulated (1.3-fold) in cells treated with topotecan combined with ZnONPs. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that combination of the topotecan and ZnONPs could have a powerful synergistic cytotoxic effect on breast cancer cell line.