Open AccessChitosan Induces Apoptosis via Caspase‐3 Activation in Bladder Tumor Cells
Author(s) -
Hasegawa Masumi,
Yagi Keiko,
Iwakawa Seigo,
Hirai Midori
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
japanese journal of cancer research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1349-7006
pISSN - 0910-5050
DOI - 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2001.tb01116.x
Subject(s) - chitosan , apoptosis , dna fragmentation , cancer research , chemistry , toxicity , caspase 3 , drug delivery , cell growth , cancer cell , programmed cell death , cancer , medicine , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Recently, because of its low toxicity and biological effects, chitosan has been widely used in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, e.g., for nasal or oral delivery of peptide or polar drug delivery. Here, we report a growth‐inhibitory effect of chitosan on tumor cells. The growth inhibition was examined by WST‐1 colorimetric assay and cell counting. We also observed DNA fragmentation, which is characteristic of apoptosis, and elevated caspase‐3‐like activity in chitosan‐treated cancer cells. The findings suggest that chitosan may have potential value in cancer therapy.