In the present work, silica-based nanocarrier for the anticancer drug, amiloride have been synthesized and characterized using various physicochemical techniques. The aim of this work emphasis on investigating the physicochemical properties and cytotoxic effects of citrate-functionalized amiloride loaded silica nanoparticles. Silica nanoparticles synthesis was carried out via condensation reaction, then coated by tris sodium citrate, followed by their functionalization using amiloride through EDC-NHS reaction. SEM and HR-XRD analysis indicated the formation of amorphous spherical silica nanoparticles. The existence of citrate coating was evident from FT-IR and TGA results, which were supported by DLS and zeta potential studies. The formation of amiloride conjugated citrate coated silica nanoparticles (SiNPs-Cit@Ami) was confirmed by the DLS, Zeta potential and UV-Visible spectroscopy. Size of SiNPs-Cit@Ami nanoparticles was found to be around 80nm using TEM. Additionally, these nanoparticles showed high loading efficiency and time-dependent release of amiloride. DNA binding studies were examined using UV–Visible, Fluorescence spectroscopic and Competitive fluorescence studies. The results indicate that SiNPs-Cit@Ami bind to Ct-DNA via minor groove binding mode. Furthermore, the cytotoxic effect of SiNPs-Cit@Ami on HepG2 cell lines was found to be higher than amiloride alone. Our findings suggest that SiNPs-Cit@Ami can be employed as a promising candidate for cancer mitigation.
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