Folic acid conjugated-chitosan modified nanostructured lipid carriers as promising carriers for delivery of Umbelliprenin to cancer cells: In vivo and in vitro

Abstract

The aim of this survey was to load Umbelliprenin (UMB) on nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) coated with folic acid-bound chitosan and to investigate its anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo. The fabrication of UMB-NCF-NPs was performed using high pressure homogenization and ultra-sonication method. Subsequently, the physiochemical properties, drug entrapment and release of formulation were examined. The trapping rate of the drug was 90.8 % ​​and within 10 days, it was released slowly about 97.2 %. In vitro assays including MTT, flow cytometry, fluorescence staining, and qPCR analysis on MCF-7 cells showed that UMB-NCF-NPs were effectively able to inhibit cancer cells by activating the apoptosis mechanism under the influence of increasing of ROS is intracellular. The antioxidant and pro-oxidant potential of UMB-NCF-NPs outside and inside the cell was confirmed by assessing the extent of free radical scavenging and molecular analysis respectively. In vivo experiments on chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and tumor-bearing mice also confirmed the anti-angiogenesis (by reducing vascular factors and reduced expression of angiogenesis genes) and anti-tumor (by ∼ 75.42 % ​​reduction in tumor volume over 19 days) effects of UMB-NCF-NPs. According to the results of in vitro and in vivo tests, this formulation can be suggested as a suitable candidate for cancer treatment studies.