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Synthesis of anticancer drug polymeric carrier based on safranal encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles

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Abstract

Safranal, the main bioactive compound in saffron responsible for its desirable aroma, has been widely studied for its various biological potentials in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. In the present research, safranal was encapsulated in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (SAF-PLGA-NPs) as an efficient carrier system and characterized using DLS, ZETA potential, SEM, TEM and FTIR methods. The study aimed to investigate the antioxidant potential and anticancer properties of SAF-PLGA-NPs against two distinct cell lines including normal human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) cells and pancreatic cancer (PANC) cells. The apoptotic gene profiling (Bax, Bcl2, and Caspase 8) was also analyzed to determine the mechanism of action of SAF-PLGA-NPs. The obtained results manifested that SAF-PLGA-NPs were synthesized into round particles measuring 229.19 nm. They were also found to be single-dispersed and stable, with a ζ-potential of − 20.87 mV. The nanoparticles showed strong cytotoxicity activity against PANC cells, with an IC50 value of 35.38 μg/mL compared to normal cells. Moreover, the SAF-PLGA-NPs significantly upregulated the expression of Bax and caspase 8 genes while down-regulating the expression of the Bcl2 gene in the PANC cell line, which is a promising mechanism for treating pancreatic cancer. Our funding suggests that SAF-PLGA-NPs could be a promising drug delivery system and provide a strong foundation for further research on SAF-PLGA-NPs as a potential treatment option for cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Islamic Azad University of Mashhad for the laboratory facilities.

Funding

There has been no financial support for this work.

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Author notes

  1. Fatemeh Aminaltojjari, Ali Neamati and Ehsan Karimi have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

    Fatemeh Aminaltojjari, Ali Neamati & Ehsan Karimi

Authors
  1. Fatemeh Aminaltojjari
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  2. Ali Neamati
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  3. Ehsan Karimi
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Contributions

FA was contributed to study design, experimental work, and writing original draft; EK and AN were contributed to analysis, methodology, project administration, supervision, review, and editing of the original draft; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ehsan Karimi.

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All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Aminaltojjari, F., Neamati, A. & Karimi, E. Synthesis of anticancer drug polymeric carrier based on safranal encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles. Polym. Bull. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-024-05298-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-024-05298-7

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