Dual-targeting and specific delivery of tamoxifen to cancer cells by modified magnetic nanoparticles using hyaluronic acid and folic acid
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Tamoxifen (TMX) which serves as the best clinical option for the treatment of breast cancer may trigger major dose-dependent side effects due to its poor solubility. Therefore, the use of lower TMX doses utilizing nano-enabled drug delivery systems offers multiple benefits to improving drug specified concentration, safety, and long-term release. In this study, we synthesized targeted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) containing folic acid (FA) and hyaluronic acid (HA) to improve drug delivery of TMX. After investigations utilizing Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscope, we found that the surface of MNPs was well modified with targeting agents, and the size of the Fe3O4-DPN-HA-FA NPs was determined at ∼153 (±3.3) nm. Furthermore, the release of 81% TMX after 120 h indicated that there was a controlled pattern of drug release from the modified MNPs. Besides that, the MTT assay revealed that the viability of MDA-MB-231 cell lines after 48 h and 72 h of treatment is dependent on the time and concentration of Fe3O4-DPN-HA-FA-TMX NPs. Finally, real-time polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that Fe3O4-DPN-HA-FA-TMX NPs could upregulate the expression of Bak1 genes and downregulated the expression of Bclx genes during 24 h treatment. All data confirmed that the presence of HA and FA on the surface of nanocarriers and the active targeting employing the nanocarriers can be a useful step to obliterate the breast cancer cells.
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