Nanobiotechnology for health-care

Sonosentetizing cytotoxic effects of C60 fullerene and Berberine towards cancer cells of different origin   
Radivoievych A.1,2, Prylutska S.3, Zolk O.2,4, Frohme M.1, Grebinyk A.1 
1 Division Molecular Biotechnology and Functional Genomics, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau, Hochschulring 1, 15745 Wildau, Germany. 
E-mail: mfrohme@th-wildau.de
2 Faculty of Health Sciences, joint Faculty of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus – Senftenberg, the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and the University of Potsdam, Germany. 
3 Department of Chemistry, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Volodymyrska 64, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine.
4 Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Brandenburg Medical School, Immanuel Klinik Rüdersdorf, 15562 Rüdersdorf, Germany.

Cancer sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is the therapeutic strategy that involves the use of sonosensitizers, which become cytotoxic upon exposure to high-frequency ultrasound (US). The spectrum of sonoluminescence that occurs during US propagation through the liquid overlaps with the absorbance spectrum of a carbon nanoparticle C60 fullerene (C60) and an herbal alkaloid Berberine. That points on US as a matching option for activating its photosensitizing activity. In this study the effects of C60 and Berberine on viability of cancer cells of different origin was analyzed in the combination with 1 MHz US treatment. 
A water colloidal C60 solution was obtained from the Ilmenau University of Technology [1]. The cells (human cervix carcinoma HeLa, human alveolar basal epithelial A549, human T lymphocyte Jurkat, mouse Lewis lung carcinoma LLC, and rat hepatoma H4llE) were treated with 20 µM C60 or Berberine for 24 h and irradiated with ≤ 200 W 1 MHz US during 90s. Then cell morphology and viability were estimated with a MTT assay and phase contrast microscopy respectively. 
The obtained data pointed that US irradiation alone had no effect on cell viability, while cells irradiated with US in presence of C60 and Berberine had a decreased viability to 43% and 46% respectively. C60 was found to exhibit higher sonotoxicity towards LLC, HeLa and H4llE cells than Berberine. HeLa and LLC had more pronounced cell viability decrease under action of US irradiation and C60 among investigated cells of different origin. These results suggest that SDT with C60 and Berberine can become a promising approach for cancer treatment. 
1.	Scharff P., Risch K., Carta-Abelmann L., et al. Structure of C60 fullerene in water: Spectroscopic data // Carbon -2004.-42, N 5.-P. 1203-1206.