Design and Synthesis of Multi-Functional Superparamagnetic Core-Gold Shell Coated with Chitosan and Folate Nanoparticles for Targeted Antitumor Therapy.

Sharafaldin Al-Musawi,Faizah Almalki,Salim Albukhaty,Hassan Al-Karagoly

doi:10.3390/nano11010032

Sharafaldin Al-Musawi, Faizah Almalki + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11010032

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Abstract

A dual-targeting nanomedicine composed of pH-sensitive superparamagnetic iron oxide core-gold shell SPION@Au, chitosan (CS), and folate (FA) was developed as a doxorubicin (DOX) antitumor medication. Microemulsion was used for preparation and cross-linking conjugation. The characteristics of the designed nanocomposite were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, UV-visible spectroscopy, Zeta potential and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The prepared SPION@Au-CS-DOX-FA nanoparticles (NPs) were spherical with an average diameter of 102.6 ± 7 nm and displayed an elevated drug loading behavior and sustained drug release capacity. The SPION@Au-CS-DOX-FA NPs revealed long term anti-cancer efficacy due to their cytotoxic effect and apoptotic inducing efficiency in SkBr3 cell lines. Additionally, Real-time PCR outcomes significantly showed an increase in BAK and BAX expression and a decrease in BCL-XL and BCL-2. In vivo results revealed that SPION@Au significantly decreased the tumor size in treated mice through magnetization. In conclusion, prepared SPION@Au-CS-DOX-FA could be a beneficial drug formulation for clinical breast cancer treatment.

Highlights

Breast cancer is a major recurring cause of death for women worldwide; the development of modern diagnostic methods for breast cancer in the early stages is essential for the possible treatment of this disease [1,2]
A multilayered nanocomposite named Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION)@Au platform was prepared through microemulsion, stabilized by biocompatible CS, and conjugated with targeting FA
Chemical co-precipitation was adopted to generate SPIONs because it allows for feasible large-scale and relatively low-cost production [29]

Summary

Introduction

Breast cancer is a major recurring cause of death for women worldwide; the development of modern diagnostic methods for breast cancer in the early stages is essential for the possible treatment of this disease [1,2]. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles (NPs) (SPIONs) have emerged as a superior agent in tumor therapy because of their unique properties, the superior magnetism that permits non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and in vivo applications such as cancer tissue hyperthermia by a targeted technique in the presence of an external magnetic field [11,12,13,14,15].

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