Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes loaded with gemcitabine inhibit pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by enhancing apoptosis

Figure 1 Characterization of mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes. A: Transmission electron microscopy analysis of mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes; B: Nanoparticle tracking analysis of the size distribution of mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes.

Figure 2 The cytotoxicity of free gemcitabine and exosomes loaded with gemcitabine against Panc-1 and MiaPaca-2 cells. A-D: The cells were treated in triplicate with the indicated concentrations of gemcitabine, exosomes loaded with gemcitabine, or exosomes for 48 or 72 hours. The viability of each group of cells was assessed by the MTT assay. The cyttoxicity of different concentrations of gemcitabine against Panc-1 (A) and MiaPaca-2 cells (C); comparison of effects of gemcitabine, exosomes loaded with gemcitabine and control exosomes on the viability of Panc-1 (B) and MiaPaca-2 (D) cells. Data are represented as the mean ± SD (n = 3) of a representative experiment. ^bP < 0.01, vs the gemcitabine group; ^cP < 0.001, vs the gemcitabine group. EXO: Exosomes; GEM: Gemcitabine; EXO-GEM: Exosomes loaded with gemcitabine.

Figure 3 Exosomes loaded with gemcitabine enhances the frequency of gemcitabine-induced apoptotic pancreatic cancer cells. A and B: Panc-1 (A) and MiaPaca-2 (B) cells were treated in triplicate with various concentrations of gemcitabine or exosomes loaded with gemcitabine for 72 hours, and the frequency of apoptotic cells was determined by flow cytometry. Data are represented as the mean ± SD (n = 3) of a representative experiment. ^bP < 0.01, vs the gemcitabine group; ^cP < 0.001, vs the gemcitabine group; ns: No significance. EXO: Exosomes; GEM: Gemcitabine; EXO-GEM: Exosomes loaded with gemcitabine.