Fabrication of a β-TCP Nanomaterial and its Inhibitory Effects on Human Ovarian Cancer SKOV-3 Cells

Abstract

Nanosized β-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) material was produced in this study using a wet precipitation method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Human ovarian sarcoma SKOV-3 cells were cultured and the influence of nanoscale β-TCP particles on SKOV-3 cell behavior was studied in vitro. As a result, β-TCP nanoparticles with average size of 100 nm were obtained. Cell growth of SKOV-3 cells was noticeably declined in the presence of β-TCP nanoparticles (200ng/ml). The distribution of cell cycle for SKOV-3 cells cultured with and without β-TCP nanomaterials was quite different. In G1 phase of cell cycle, the percentage of SKOV-3 cells cultured in the absence of β-TCP nanoparticles was significantly lower than that cultured in the presence of β-TCP nanoparticles (p<0.01). In S phase of cell cycle, on the other hand, the percentage of SKOV-3 cells cultured without β-TCP nanoparticles was noticeably increased compared with that cultured with β-TCP nanoparticles (p<0.01). Moreover, the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in SKOV-3 cells cultured in medium containing 200ng/ml β-TCP nanopaticles was significantly lower than that in the cells cultured without β-TCP nanoparticles (p<0.01). In conclusion, the nanoscale β-TCP material synthesized in this study can exert anti-tumor effects on SKOV-3 cells through mechanisms of cell growth inhibition, downregulation of PCNA expression and cell cycle arrest at G1 phase.