A Novel Exploration of a Combination of Gambogic Acid with TiO(2) Nanofibers: The Photodynamic Effect for HepG2 Cell Proliferation

As a good photosensitizer, TiO(2) nanomaterials show potential biomedical applications, such as drug carriers or enhancers in photodynamic therapy. In this contribution, novel nanocomposites through the blending of TiO(2) nanofibers with the active compound, gambogic acid (GA), were explored, and the results showed that GA could inhibit cancer cell proliferation in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner, inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase in HepG2 cells. It is evident that after the GA-TiO(2) nanocomposites were cultured with the cancer cells, the cooperation effect could effectively enhance the cytotoxicity of GA for HepG2 cells. Meanwhile, if activated by UV irradiation, under the presence of GA-TiO(2) nanocomposites, this would lead to significant apoptosis and necrosis for HepG2 cells with a photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect. Associated with the controlled drug-release from these nanocomposites, TiO(2) nanofibers could readily cut down the drug consumption in HepG2 cells and reduce the side-effect for the normal cells and tissue, which may be further utilized in the therapeutic alliance for cancer therapy.