Cancer Cell-Selective Inhibition of Migration by Styrenic Catiomer Emulsions

Cancer metastasis remains the most formidable cause of mortality and morbidity in cancer patients. Developing an effective and economical method toward cancer antimetastatic strategy demands immediate attention in anticancer therapy. Herein, we followed a cost-effective greener method for preparing a small family of amphiphilic catiomers with varied styrene content (45, 63, and 83%), which revealed the unique potential of promoting normal cell migration while retarding cancer metastasis. The styrenic polymers formed micellar self-assembly in aqueous phase and exhibited a cationic charge. Polymers were quite nontoxic up to 200 μg/mL concentration toward human embryonic kidney cell HEK293 as well as human, triple negative breast cancer cell MDAMB-231, mouse melanoma cell B16F10, and human oral squamous carcinoma cell FaDu. Confocal imaging and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) showed effective incorporation of polymers within cells. Interestingly, the polymer-treated HEK293 cells underwent prominent wound healing in scratch assay. However, the as-synthesized polymer-treated cancer cells resisted migration as analyzed from the scratch assay. A mechanistic study using immunoblotting assay established upregulation of migratory proteins vimentin and TGF-β and downregulation of E-cadherin in normal HEK293 cells. Remarkably, this trend was completely reversed in cancer cell MDAMB-231. This study describes the extraordinary potential of styrenic catiomers as wound healers for normal cells while inhibiting cancer metastasis.