Sodium alginate nanofibers loaded Terminalia catappa scaffold regulates intrinsic apoptosis signaling in skin melanoma cancer

Abstract

Drug delivery by nanofibrous scaffold is a promising approach for treating cancer disease. In this study, bioactive compounds were extracted from the medicinal plant Terminalia catappa and loaded into sodium alginate (SA) polymer to prepare a bioactive electrospun nanofibers. Initially, SA polymeric fibers alone was prepared by electrospinning approach and characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD and SEM techniques. Further, the antioxidant properties of SA, TC, and TC loaded SA (SA@TC) were evaluated using DPPH assay and the results indicated that the SA@TC has good antioxidant activity than unloaded carrier. Further, the cytotoxic activity showed the SA and SA@TC has excellent inhibiting activity of human skin melanoma B16F10 cells. As prepared SA@TC scaffold increased the ROS generation in the mitochondria and damaged the nuclear of B16F10 cells. Further, the SA@TC scaffold increases the expression of apoptosis marker genes and proteins such as Bax, Cyt C, p21, p53, caspase 9 & 3. The LC-MS analysis indicated the presence of ten anticancer compounds in T. cattapa extract that could influence the anticancer activity. Hence, the prepared SA@TC scaffolds having the ability to inhibit the cancer cells through intrinsic apoptosis signaling and can be potential candidates for skin cancer treatment.