Cadmium telluride quantum dots (Cdte QDs) have received significant attention in biomedical research because of their potential in disease diagnosis and
drug delivery. In this study, we have investigated the interaction mechanism and synergistic effect of
3-mercaptopropionic acid-capped Cdte QDs with the anti-
cancer drug daunorubicin (DNR) on the induction of apoptosis using
drug-resistant human
hepatoma HepG2/ADM cells. Electrochemical assay revealed that Cdte QDs readily facilitated the uptake of the DNR into HepG2/ADM cells. Apoptotic staining, DNA fragmentation, and flow cytometry analysis further demonstrated that compared with Cdte QDs or DNR treatment alone, the apoptosis rate increased after the treatment of Cdte QDs together with DNR in HepG2/ADM cells. We observed that Cdte QDs treatment could reduce the effect of
P-glycoprotein while the treatment of Cdte QDs together with DNR can clearly activate apoptosis-related
caspases protein expression in HepG2/ADM cells. Moreover, our in vivo study indicated that the treatment of Cdte QDs together with DNR effectively inhibited the human
hepatoma HepG2/ADM nude mice
tumor growth. The increased cell apoptosis rate was closely correlated with the enhanced inhibition of
tumor growth in the studied animals. Thus, Cdte QDs combined with DNR may serve as a possible alternative for targeted therapeutic approaches for some
cancer treatments.