An Insight into the Mechanism of Holamine- and Funtumine-Induced Cell Death in Cancer Cells.

Holamine and funtumine, steroidal alkaloids with strong and diverse pharmacological activities are commonly found in the Apocynaceae family of . The selective anti-proliferative and cell cycle arrest effects of holamine and funtumine on cancer cells have been previously reported. The present study evaluated the anti-proliferative mechanism of action of these two steroidal alkaloids on cancer cell lines (HT-29, MCF-7 and HeLa) by exploring the mitochondrial depolarization effects, reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction, apoptosis, F-actin perturbation, and inhibition of topoisomerase-I.

Peptide-functionalized nanoparticles for the selective induction of apoptosis in target cells.

Aim: The study developed a prohibitin (PHB) targeted nanotherapy for selective induction of apoptosis in target cells.

Methods: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were bifunctionalized with adipose homing and proapoptotic peptides. The efficacy and mode of cell death induced by the AuNPs were investigated in vitro on three cancer cell lines.