In vitro evaluation of antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of folate-methotrexate conjugated to bovine serum albumin nanoparticles against MCF-7, HepG2, and PC3 cell lines

Abstract

This study assesses the antioxidant characteristics of folate-methotrexate that has been conjugated to bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (FO-MTX-BSA-NPs) as well as its cytotoxic impacts on MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), HepG2 (human liver cancer) and PC3 (human prostate cancer) cell lines in vitro. A 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and a ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay were used to asses antioxidant activity while a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was conducted to estimate the anticancer properties of FO-MTX-BSA-NPs in MCF-7, HepG2, and PC3 cancer cell lines. A cell viability analysis revealed that FO-MTX-BSA-NPs could inhibit the development of MCF-7, HepG2, as well as PC3 cancer cell lines depending on the dosage used. It also had a cytotoxic impact on MCF-7, HepG2, and PC3 cancer cell lines at half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 109.8 ± 0.29 mg/mL, 96.87 ± 0.00 mg/mL, and 208.6 ± 0.29 mg/mL, respectively. Meanwhile the FRAP and DPPH assays revealed that the relative reducing power of FO-MTX-BSA-NPs antioxidants were 53.3 % and 45.7 %, respectively, at concentrations of 200 μg/mL. Therefore, as FO-MTX-BSA-NPs possess significant antioxidants characteristics to MCF-7, HepG2, as well as PC3 cancer cell lines, it could potentially be used as an anticancer agent.