Targeted albumin nanoparticles for the enhancement of gemcitabine toxicity on cancerous cells

Abstract

BackgroundDrug delivery system (DDS) is one of the most recent strategies to enhance specific targeting of tumor cells in cancer treatment. The major goal in DDS is to achieve higher accumulation of the drug in the tumor tissue and hence to reduce systemic toxicity and side effects of chemotherapeutic agents. ObjectiveTo meet these challenges in breast cancer treatment, specific targeting of the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) on the surface of tumor cells is needed, which is possible by means of HER2 monoclonal antibody (mAb). MethodsTherefore, in this study, gemcitabine (Gem)-loaded nanoparticles (NP) based on bovine serum albumin (BSA) were produced by desolvation method and then, they were targeted by the conjugation of HER2 mAb through cross linkers. The produced agents were used for targeting of HER2 overexpressing in breast cancer cells. The agents were characterized for particle size, zeta potential, morphology, drug-loading efficiency, mAb conjugation efficiency and investigated on MCF7 and BT474 breast cancer cell lines afterwards. ResultsThe size and surface charge of targeted drug-loaded NPs were obtained to be 208.9 ± 10 nm and −19.1 ± 2.1 mV, respectively. In addition, they were observed to have a smooth spherical shape. The designed targeted DDS showed an enhanced accumulation of the drug and subsequently higher cell-death rate in HER2-positive breast cancer cells, in comparison with non-targeted drug-loaded NPs, BSA NPs and free drug. ConclusionThus, it is found that BSA NPs with the efficient conjugation of mAb and loading of Gem can make a promising carrier for cancer treatment.