Self-assembled zein–sodium carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles as an effective drug carrier and transporter

In this work, biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) were assembled with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and zein to produce zein–CMC NPs. Paclitaxel (PTX) was 95.5% encapsulated at a zein–CMC weight ratio of 1 : 3 and the NPs were spherical with an average particle size of approximately 159.4 nm, with the PTX concentration maintained at 80 μg mL−1. The NPs demonstrated good stability over a broad range of pH ranging from 3.7 to 11.0. The zein–CMC NPs were seen to provide a sustained release of PTX for up to 72 h, which led to an 80% release of the total loaded PTX in vitro. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and flow cytometry studies showed that the zein–CMC NPs could effectively transport encapsulated molecules into both drug-sensitive (HepG2 cells) and drug-resistant cancer cells (MCF-7 cells). Moreover, in vitro viability studies revealed that the PTX-loaded zein–CMC NPs had greater potency than free PTX in the PTX resistant MCF-7 cells at higher concentration. Furthermore, PTX-loaded NPs displayed obvious efficiency in the apoptosis of HepG2 cells. Zein–CMC NPs have shown significant potential as a highly versatile and potent platform for cancer therapy.