Folate-Targeted Curcumin-Loaded Niosomes for Site-Specific Delivery in Breast Cancer Treatment: In Silico and In Vitro Study
Banafsheh Honarvari,
Sara Karimifard,
Niyayesh Akhtari,
Mehrnoush Mehrarya,
Zahra Salehi Moghaddam,
Mohammad Javed Ansari,
Abduladheem Turki Jalil,
Adrián Matencio,
Francesco Trotta,
Faten Eshrati Yeganeh,
Bahareh Farasati Far,
Mandana Kazem Arki,
Mohammad Reza Naimi-Jamal,
Hassan Noorbazargan,
Zahra Asghari Lalami,
Mohsen Chiani
Affiliations
Banafsheh Honarvari
Department of Physics, Faculty of Physics and Chemistry, Alzahra University, Tehran 1993893973, Iran
Sara Karimifard
Central Tehran Branch, Stem Cells Research Center, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1568937813, Iran
Niyayesh Akhtari
Department of Biology, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Parand 3761396361, Iran
Mehrnoush Mehrarya
Protein Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983969411, Iran
Zahra Salehi Moghaddam
Department of Microbial Biotechnology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 141556455, Iran
Mohammad Javed Ansari
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 16278, Saudi Arabia
Abduladheem Turki Jalil
Medical Laboratories Techniques Department, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Babylon, Hilla 51001, Iraq
Adrián Matencio
Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Torino, Italy
Francesco Trotta
Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Torino, Italy
Faten Eshrati Yeganeh
Department of Chemistry, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 14515775, Iran
Bahareh Farasati Far
Research Laboratory of Green Organic Synthesis and Polymers, Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 1684611367, Iran
Mandana Kazem Arki
Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 19835178, Iran
Mohammad Reza Naimi-Jamal
Research Laboratory of Green Organic Synthesis and Polymers, Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 1684611367, Iran
Hassan Noorbazargan
Department of Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1985717443, Iran
Zahra Asghari Lalami
Department of Biology, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Parand 3761396361, Iran
Mohsen Chiani
New Technology Research Group, Department of Nano Biotechnology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran
As the most common cancer in women, efforts have been made to develop novel nanomedicine-based therapeutics for breast cancer. In the present study, the in silico curcumin (Cur) properties were investigated, and we found some important drawbacks of Cur. To enhance cancer therapeutics of Cur, three different nonionic surfactants (span 20, 60, and 80) were used to prepare various Cur-loaded niosomes (Nio-Cur). Then, fabricated Nio-Cur were decorated with folic acid (FA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) for breast cancer suppression. For PEG-FA@Nio-Cur, the gene expression levels of Bax and p53 were higher compared to free drug and Nio-Cur. With PEG-FA-decorated Nio-Cur, levels of Bcl2 were lower than the free drug and Nio-Cur. When MCF7 and 4T1 cell uptake tests of PEG-FA@Nio-Cur and Nio-Cur were investigated, the results showed that the PEG-FA-modified niosomes exhibited the most preponderant endocytosis. In vitro experiments demonstrate that PEG-FA@Nio-Cur is a promising strategy for the delivery of Cur in breast cancer therapy. Breast cancer cells absorbed the prepared nanoformulations and exhibited sustained drug release characteristics.
