Höfundar:
Soheila Mohebzadeh, Hossein Ali Ebrahimi, Amin Amani, Már Másson
Introduction
Targeted drug delivery has become a promising strategy for cancer treatment by reducing the side effects of chemotherapy drugs and increasing their impact on the cancer area.
Methods
In the present study, hyaluronic acid-conjugated PLA (PLA-HA) was first synthesized and then utilized to encapsulate paclitaxel and hydrophobic iron oxide nanoparticles (PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX). Particle size, zeta potential, and magnetic properties of PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX were determined using DLS and VSM, respectively. The paclitaxel release pattern of the PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX nanoparticles was investigated in PBS buffer with acidic (pH=6) and neutral pH (pH=7.4). To examine the toxicity of PLA-HA/Fe3O4 and its ability to transfer paclitaxel to breast cancer cells, MCF-7 cells were treated with different concentrations of PLA-HA/Fe3O4 and PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX separately, and then, their viability was calculated using the MTT assay.
Results
TGA, FTIR, and H-NMR spectroscopy results revealed hyaluronic acid conjugated to PLA successfully. The results of TEM and DLS showed PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX nanoparticles had a spherical shape with an average size of 235nm and a zeta potential of -18 mV. The release of paclitaxel from PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX nanoparticles in acidic PBS buffer occurred significantly faster than in PBS buffer with neutral pH. The MTT results revealed that PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX nanoparticles significantly reduced the viability of MCF-7 cells. VSM analysis demonstrated that the saturation magnetization of PLA-HA/Fe3O4/PTX nanoparticles was 23 emu/g.
Conclusion
This study showed that nanoparticles have a high potential in active and non-active targeting of breast cancer cells due to their magnetic properties, pH-dependent drug release pattern, and ability to deliver drugs to cancer cells.