Although the therapeutic strategy showed significant improvement, the
therapeutic effect was poor on
metastases in tongue
squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) which is the most malignant
tumor found in the head and neck.
Chrysin, similar to the
flavonoids, plays an antitumor role by regulating the expression of ncRNAs in many kinds of
cancers. Compared to
flavonoids,
gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) provide a novel insight into inhibiting
cancer cell growth via
photothermal therapy (PPT) which is irradiated by near-infrared radiation (NIR). However, most
flavonoids and AuNPs lack specificity of
tumor in vivo. The extracellular vesicles (EVs) which were abundant with ncRNAs are isolated from the cellular supernatant fluid and have the ability to carry drugs or nanoparticles to improve specificity. In the present study, we aimed to synthesize a new nanomaterial based on EVs containing
chrysin and analyzed cell apoptosis in TSCC cells. Our results demonstrated that EVs-
chrysin were isolated from SCC9 cells that were treated with
chrysin. To improve the
therapeutic effect, AuNPs were carried by EVs-
chrysin (Au-EVs). Compared to BGC823 and HCC-LM3 cells, the uptake of Au-EVs was specific in SCC9 cells. Moreover, Au-EVs combined with NIR enhanced cell apoptosis in TSCC cells. To confirm the role of
miRNAs in cell apoptosis, the differentially expressed
miRNAs between EVs-Con and EVs-
chrysin were screened by
RNA-seq. The results revealed that the let-7a-3p family, which acts as the
tumor suppressor, was upregulated in EVs-
chrysin compared to EVs-Con. Thus, let-7a-3p was screened in the apoptosis pathway that was associated with the p53
protein. Furthermore, compared to the Con group, Au-EVs combined with the NIR group effectively inhibited
tumor growth in vivo via increasing the expression of let-7a-3p. Together, as a new nanomaterial, Au-EVs induced cell apoptosis and inhibited
tumor growth by regulating let-7a-3p expression in TSCC.