Serum adsorption, cellular internalization and consequent impact of cuprous oxide nanoparticles on uveal melanoma cells: implications for cancer therapy

To investigate the biological fate of cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu2O-NPs) and to evaluate their potential in uveal melanoma therapy.The protein corona, cellular uptake mechanism and localization of Cu2O-NPs were investigated. Furthermore, the effect of Cu2O-NPs on uveal melanoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and possible mechanisms were studied in detail.Cu2O-NPs are able to adsorb serum proteins in cell culture medium, which are then internalized by uveal melanoma cells mainly through lipid raft-mediated endocytosis. Furthermore, Cu2O-NPs selectively inhibit cancer cell growth and impair the ability of uveal melanoma cell migration, invasion and the cytoskeleton assembly. The mechanism may be that Cu2O-NPs located in and damage mitochondria, autophagolysosomes and lysosomes, leading to elevated reactive oxygen species level and over-stimulated apoptosis and autophagy.The data provide detailed information of Cu2O-NPs for further application and indicate that Cu2O-NPs could be a potential agent for uveal melanoma therapy.