{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T15:34:11Z","timestamp":1781105651207,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":71,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,11]],"date-time":"2022-07-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657497600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010101","name":"Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TCVGH-CTUST1117702"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TCVGH-CTUST1117702"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010101","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010101","name":"Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TCVGH-1114901B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TCVGH-1114901B"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010101","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010101","name":"Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DMR-108-105"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DMR-108-105"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010101","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004391","name":"China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TCVGH-CTUST1117702"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TCVGH-CTUST1117702"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004391","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004391","name":"China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TCVGH-1114901B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TCVGH-1114901B"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004391","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004391","name":"China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DMR-108-105"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DMR-108-105"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004391","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>n-butylidenephthalide (BP) has been verified as having the superior characteristic of cancer cell toxicity. Furthermore, gold (Au) nanoparticles are biocompatible materials, as well as effective carriers for delivering bio-active molecules for cancer therapeutics. In the present research, Au nanoparticles were first conjugated with polyethylene glycol (PEG), and then cross-linked with BP to obtain PEG-Au-BP nanodrugs. The physicochemical properties were characterized through ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to confirm the combination of PEG, Au, and BP. In addition, both the size and structure of Au nanoparticles were observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), where the size of Au corresponded to the results of DLS assay. Through in vitro assessments, non-transformed BAEC and DBTRG human glioma cells were treated with PEG-Au-BP drugs to investigate the tumor-cell selective cytotoxicity, cell uptake efficiency, and mechanism of endocytic routes. According to the results of MTT assay, PEG-Au-BP was able to significantly inhibit DBTRG brain cancer cell proliferation. Additionally, cell uptake efficiency and potential cellular transportation in both BAEC and DBTRG cell lines were observed to be significantly higher at 2 and 24 h. Moreover, the mechanisms of endocytosis, clathrin-mediated endocytosis, and cell autophagy were explored and determined to be favorable routes for BAEC and DBTRG cells to absorb PEG-Au-BP nanodrugs. Next, the cell progression and apoptosis of DBTRG cells after PEG-Au-BP treatment was investigated by flow cytometry. The results show that PEG-Au-BP could remarkably regulate the DBTRG cell cycle at the Sub-G1 phase, as well as induce more apoptotic cells. The expression of apoptotic-related proteins in DBTRG cells was determined through Western blotting assay. After treatment with PEG-Au-BP, the apoptotic cascade proteins p21, Bax, and Act-caspase-3 were all significantly expressed in DBTRG brain cancer cells. Through in vivo assessments, the tissue morphology and particle distribution in a mouse model were examined after a retro-orbital sinus injection containing PEG-Au-BP nanodrugs. The results demonstrate tissue integrity in the brain (forebrain, cerebellum, and midbrain), heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney, as they did not show significant destruction due to PEG-Au-BP treatment. Simultaneously, the extended retention period for PEG-Au-BP nanodrugs was discovered, particularly in brain tissue. The above findings identify PEG-Au-BP as a potential nanodrug for brain cancer therapies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells11142172","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,11]],"date-time":"2022-07-11T21:57:53Z","timestamp":1657576673000},"page":"2172","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Improved Delivery Performance of n-Butylidenephthalide-Polyethylene Glycol-Gold Nanoparticles Efficient for Enhanced Anti-Cancer Activity in Brain Tumor"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Ming-Tai","family":"Hsing","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 50006, Taiwan"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui-Ting","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Pathology, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 50006, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chih-Hsuan","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kai-Bo","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chun-Yuan","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 50006, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jae-Hwan","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 50006, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chien-Li","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 50006, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meng-Yin","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan"},{"name":"Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan"},{"name":"College of Nursing, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung 406053, Taiwan"},{"name":"College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9651-3761","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yi-Chin","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Szu-Yuan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chun-Ming","family":"Yen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taichung 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