IC50 Evaluation of Platinum Nanocatalysts for Cancer Treatment in Fibroblast, HeLa, and DU-145 Cell Lines

Cancer is a major public health problem being one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality today. Recent advances in catalytic nanomedicine have offered new cancer therapies based on the administration of nanoparticles (NPs) of platinum (Pt) dispersed in catalytic mesoporous nanomaterials (titania, TiO2) with highly selective cytotoxic properties and no adverse effects. A half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) study was carried out in cancerous cell lines (HeLa, DU-145, and fibroblasts) to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of different nanomaterials [Pt/TiO2, TiO2, and Pt(acac)2] synthesized by the solgel method at concentrations 01000 mu g/mL. The assays showed that IC50 values for Pt in functionalized TiO2 (NPt) in HeLa (53.74 +/- 2.95 mu g/mL) and DU-145 (75.07 +/- 5.48 mu g/mL) were lower than those of pure TiO2 (74.29 +/- 8.95 and 82.02 +/- 6.03 mu g/mL, respectively). Pt(acac)2 exhibited no cytotoxicity. Normal cells (fibroblasts) treated with NPt exhibited no significant growth inhibition, suggesting the high selectivity of the compound for cancerous cells only. TiO2 and NPt were identified as antineoplastic compounds in vitro. Pt(acac)2 is not recommendable because of the low cytotoxicity observed.