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The melanoma origin of cell lines obtained from the axillary lymph node (mel Kas, mel Pet, and mel Lap from patients with a verified diagnosis) was confirmed by the detection of the Melan A melanocyte marker expression. A hyperdiploid (2n+) for the mel Kas line; near-diploid (2n), and in some cells near-tertaploid (4n), and even hypo-octaploid (8n) set (172–179 chromosomes) in the mel Pet cell line; and a hypotetraploid (4n−) for the mel Lap line were detected by karyotypic analysis. All three cell lines are tumorigenic; however, mel Pet demonstrates tumor growth in Balb/c nude mice only in the presence of matrigel. All three lines showed a high expression of TUBB3 and PD-L1 markers, while ERa was low (minimum for mel Pet). Significant differences in the expression level were shown for the Cyt molecular marker. In the transplantation of cells to Balb/c nude mice, a stable expression level is observed only for TUBB3. For the rest of the markers, a decrease in their expression level of varying degrees was noted when the cells were growing in solid tumors in vivo. Mutations were detected in oncogenes (BRAF, EZH2, KIT, KRAS, NRAS, ROS1) and tumor suppressor genes (CDKN2A, FAT4, KMT2C, LRP1B, PTEN, PTPRB, TP53). The detailed characterization of the cell lines makes them valuable for various scientific and regulatory experiments, particularly those involving preclinical data on antiproliferative drugs for malignant melanoma or investigations into melanoma cell properties and progression.

Curcumin attracts huge attention because of its biological properties: it is antiproliferative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and so on. However, its usage has been limited by poor water solubility and low bioavailability. Herein, to solve these problems, we developed curcumin-loaded nanoparticles based on end-capped amphiphilic poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone). Nanoparticles were obtained using the solvent evaporation method and were characterized by dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, transmission electron (TEM) and atomic force (AFM) microscopy. The average particle size was 200 nm, and the ζ-potential was −4 mV. Curcumin-release studies showed that nanoparticles are stable in aqueous solutions. An in vitro release study showed prolonged action in gastric, intestinal and colonic fluids, consistently, and in PBS. In vitro studies on epidermoid carcinoma and human embryonic kidney cells showed that the cells absorbed more curcumin in nanoparticles compared to free curcumin. Nanoparticles are safe for healthy cells and show high cytotoxicity for glioblastoma cells in cytotoxicity studies in vitro. The median lethal dose was determined in an acute toxicity assay on zebrafish and was 23 μM. Overall, the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles seem promising for cancer treatment.

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men. The main method of its treatment is androgen deprivation therapy, which has a wide range of side effects. One of the solutions to this challenge is the targeted delivery of drugs to prostate cancer cells. In this study, we performed the synthesis of a novel small-molecule PSMA-targeted conjugate based on abiraterone. Cytotoxicity, the induction of intracellular reactive oxygen species, and P450-cytochrome species inhibition were investigated for this conjugate PSMA-abiraterone. The conjugate demonstrated a preferential effect on prostate tumor cells, remaining inactive at up to 100 µM in human fibroblast cells. In addition, it revealed preferential efficacy, specifically on PSMA-expressing lines with a 65% tumor growth inhibition level on 22Rv1 (PSMA+) xenografts after 14-fold oral administration of PSMA-Abi at a single dose of 500 mg/kg (7.0 g/kg total dose) was observed. This compound showed significantly reduced acute toxicity with comparable efficacy compared to AbiAc.