Evaluation of folic acid functionalized BSA-CaFe2O4 nanohybrid carrier for the controlled delivery of natural cytotoxic drugs hesperidin and eugenol

Abstract

Folic acid conjugated Bovine serum albumin-calcium ferrite nanohybrid has been synthesized and evaluated as a pH and magnetic field sensitive targeted drug delivery system for hydrophobic anticancer drugs. The receptor-targeted nanohybrid carrier was designed with smaller particle size, better stability, and magnetic susceptibility. The natural cytotoxic drugs (hesperidin and eugenol) were encapsulated in the carrier and conjugated with folic acid for targeting folate receptor over-expressed breast cancer cells. A maximum encapsulation efficiency of 62.94% and 85.58% were optimized for hesperidin and eugenol. The drug loading efficiency, stimuli responsive drug release, release kinetics and bioactivity were evaluated in-vitro, for controlled and targeted drug delivery. The carrier exhibited pH-responsive drug release with good stability at normal pH and higher release under acidic pH conditions, which can be utilized for cancer site-specific drug delivery. The presence of superparamagnetic calcium ferrite nanoparticles enabled an effective loading of drug in the carrier and an accelerated drug release under external magnetic field. The drug carrier systems were found to be highly biocompatible towards normal L929 cells. The cell viability studies on MCF-7 cell lines exhibited the enhanced cytotoxicity of hesperidin and eugenol with a 20–30 fold reduction in IC50 values, when encapsulated in folic acid conjugated BSA-calcium ferrite nanohybrid carrier, resulting from selective interaction with the receptors on breast cancer cells.