Characterization of Gemcitabine Loaded Polyhydroxybutyrate Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to obtain an effective targeted delivery system for Gemcitabine by using PHB coated magnetic nanoparticles (PHB-MNPs). BACKGROUND: Targeted drug delivery is one of the recent hot topics in cancer therapy. Magnetic nanoparticles are widely studied for their applications in medicine since they have a targeting potential under magnetic field and a suitable surface for the attachment of different therapeutic moieties. OBJECTIVE: Gemcitabine loaded polyhydroxybutyrate coated magnetic nanoparticles (Gem-PHB-MNPs) were synthesized and characterized for treatment of breast cancer by targeted drug delivery. METHOD: The characterization of nanoparticles was confirmed by FTIR, XPS, TEM, and spectrophotometric analyses. The cytotoxicities of drug-free nanoparticles and Gemcitabine loaded nanoparticles were determined with cell proliferation assay using SKBR-3 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. RESULT: The release of Gemcitabine from PHB-MNPs indicated a pH-dependent pattern, which is a desirable release characteristic since the pH of the tumor microenvironment and endosomal structures are acidic, while bloodstream and healthy-tissues are neutral. Drug-free PHB-MNPs were not cytotoxic to the SKBR-3, and MCF-7 cells whereas the Gemcitabine loaded PHB-MNPs was about two-fold more cytotoxic with respect to free Gemcitabine. In vitro targeting ability of PHB-MNPs was shown under magnetic field. CONCLUSION: Considering these facts, we may suggested that these nanoparticles can be a promising candidate for the development of a novel targeted drug delivery system for breast cancer. Other: The targeting ability of PHB-MNPs under magnetic field was shown in in vitro conditions. Furthermore, it was shown that Gemcitabine loaded PHB-MNPs had two folds more cytotoxic effect on both SKBR and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines with respect to free Gemcitabine. These results suggest that these Gem-PHB-MNPs can have the potential to be a promising candidate for the development of novel targeted drug delivery system for breast cancer.