Effect of interaction of magnetic nanoparticles of Fe3O4 and artesunate on apoptosis of K562 cells

The present study evaluated whether the magnetic nanoparticles of Fe3O4 (MNPs-Fe3O4) could enhance the activity of artesunate (ART), and to explore its potential mechanisms. Cytotoxicity of the copolymer of ART with MNPs-Fe3O4 on K562 cells was detected by MTT assay and the apoptosis rate of K562 cells was measured by flow cytometry. Protein expression levels of bcl-2, bax, bcl-rambo, caspase-3, and survivin in K562 cells were measured by Western blot. After being incubated with the copolymer of ART with MNPs-Fe3O4 for 48 hours, the growth inhibition rate of K562 cells was significantly increased compared with that of K562 cells treated with ART alone (P < 0.05), and the apoptosis rate of K562 cells was increased significantly compared with that of K562 cells treated with ART alone, suggesting that MNPs-Fe3O4 can enhance the activity of ART. Interestingly, the copolymer-induced cell death was attenuated by caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK. Our results also showed that treatment with the copolymer of MNPs-Fe3O4 and ART increased the expression of bcl-2, bax, bcl-rambo, and caspase-3 proteins, and decreased the expression of survivin protein in K562 cells compared with ART treatment alone. These results suggest that MNPs-Fe3O4 can enhance ART-induced apoptosis, which may be related to the upregulation of bcl-rambo and downregulation of survivin.