Deregulation of BCL2 family genes in glioblastoma cells consequent to poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles treatment

Brain tumours develop resistance to chemotherapy mainly due to the presence of the blood brain barrier which partially blocks the penetration of drugs into the brain. Poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles have been extensively proposed for delivering drugs into the brain and have shown their ability to cross the blood brain barrier in vitro and in vivo. However, the application of nanoparticles could be limited by their potential side effects. In this study, two glioblastoma cell lines with the poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles were treated at different concentrations. Through MTT assay, the viability of treated cells was quantified. Induction of apoptosis was analysed by flowcytometry as well as quantitative PCR assay for the expression of BCL2 family genes. The results of this study showed that the treatment with poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles induced neither apoptosis nor necrosis in these cells. The quantitative real‐time PCR results showed that poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles treatment caused significant changes in the expression of some BCL2 family members. In conclusion, it seems that poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles treatment at non‐toxic dose can change the expression of some apoptosis‐related genes in glioblastoma cells while has no significant effect on their viability.