Synergism of co-delivered nanosized antioxidants displayed enhanced anticancer efficacy in human colon cancer cell lines

Abstract Combination of chemopreventive and/or therapeutic agents is the imminent smart approach to cope up with cancer because it may act on multiple targets through different pathways. In the present study, we have synthesized multiple chemopreventive and/or therapeutic agents (Curcumin, Quercetin and Aspirin) loaded nanoparticles by simple cation-anion interaction among the amine groups of chitosan (CS) and phosphate groups of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP). These nanosized bioactive materials (CS-SHMP-CQA-NPs) were well characterized and found most effective in colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) compared to other cancer cell lines. Triplex chemopreventive and/or therapeutic agents-loaded NPs were synergistically inducing apoptosis in HCT-116 cells compared to two-chemopreventive agents-loaded NPs as evident by an increase in sub-G 1 cells (percent), and chromatin condensation along with the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Interestingly, Chou–Talalay analysis revealed that CS-SHMP-CQA-NPs showed strong synergistic effect in its all doses. Thus, our study demonstrates that nanoparticles based bioactive materials significantly inhibit the growth of HCT-116 cells and thus could be a promising approach for colon cancer chemoprevention.