Chitosan-Coated Halloysite Nanotubes As Vehicle for Controlled Drug Delivery to MCF-7 Cancer Cells In Vitro

Abstract

The aim of the work is to improve the release properties of curcumin onto human breast cancer cell lines using coated halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) with chitosan as a polycation. A loading efficiency of 70.2% (w/w) was attained for loading 4.9 mg of the drug into 0.204 g bed volume of HNTs using the vacuum suction method. Results acquired from Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM), zeta potential, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated the presence of the drug and the biopolymer in and around the nanotubes. The release properties of drug-loaded HNTs (DLHNTs) and chitosan-coated drug-loaded HNTs (DLHNTs-CH) were evaluated. The release percentages of DLHNTs and DLHNTs-CH after 6 h were 50.7 and 37%, respectively. Based on the correlation coefficients obtained by fitting the release nature of curcumin from the two samples, the Korsmeyer-Peppas model was found to be the best-fitted model. In vitro cell viability studies were carried out on the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, using the MTT and trypan blue exclusion assays. Prior to the Trypan blue assay, the IC50 of curcumin was determined to be ~30 µM. After 24 h of incubation, the recorded cell viability values were 94, 68, 57, and 51% for HNTs, DLHNTs-CH, DLHNTs, and curcumin, respectively. In comparison to the release studies, it could be deducted that sustained lethal doses of curcumin were released from the DLHNTs-CH within the same time. It is concluded from this work that the “burst release” of naked drugs could be slowly administered using chitosan-coated HNTs as potential drug carriers.

Curcumin loaded Ag–TiO2-halloysite nanotubes platform for combined chemo-photodynamic therapy treatment of cancer cells

“…The higher release exponent values (n > 0.45) further conrms that the release cannot be classied as Fickian diffusion. 20 For all the samples analyzed, the Hixon-Crowell model recorded R 2 values that were lower than the rst-order model. This implies that the release does not follow the Hixon-Crowell model.…”

“…Finally the C-O-C stretching vibration and C-H bending vibrations are represented by the peaks found at 1277 cm −1 and 1428 cm −1 , respectively. 20,44 The FTIR spectrum of TiO 2 is also shown in Fig. 4(a).…”

“…Studies have reported that development of drug resistance is multi-faceted in nature and therefore a therapy that employs multiple mechanism to kill cancer cells is required. 19 Although curcumin loaded HNTs has been investigated to suppress the proliferation of cancerous cell, 20 this research seeks to combine it with photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of cancerous cell. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a two-stage treatment method which involves the use of light radiation of a certain wavelength and drug (known as photosensitizer (PS)).…”

Nanomaterials: A Review about Halloysite Nanotubes, Properties, and Application in the Biological Field

“…Then, the DLHNTs were coated with chitosan (DLHNTs-CH). The viability assay performed on MCF7 cells showed that polycationic coated HNTs have the potential to serve as a drug carrier [ 110 ]. Following surface modification of distearoyl phosphoethanolamine (DSPE), paclitaxel (PTX) is successfully loaded onto HNT surfaces with different inner lumen diameters giving rise to the system DSPE-HNTs-PTX, designed to deliver this drug to cancer cells.…”

Nano-Clays for Cancer Therapy: State-of-the Art and Future Perspectives

“…These unique characteristics make HNTs an extremely versatile system for their application for the delivery of anticancer drugs. HNTs are characterized by two types of hydroxyl groups (OH), external OH groups and internal OH groups, which can be exploited for their functionalization and for drug trapping [ 78 ]. The internal lumen of the HNTs can be exploited for the entrapment of the different classes of anticancer agents.…”