Pluronic stabilized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles for intracellular delivery of curcumin

Abstract

Pluronic stabilized Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (PSMNPs) were developed by introducing amphiphilic tri-block co-polymer, Pluronic P123 onto the surface of hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles (HMNPs) and investigated their efficacy for delivery of hydrophobic anti-tumor agent, curcumin (CUR). XRD and TEM analysis revealed the formation of highly crystalline Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles of size ∼7 nm. The functionalization of nanoparticles with P123 was evident from FTIR, TGA, DLS, UV-visible and zeta-potential measurements. The addition of Pluronic layer not only provides aqueous colloidal stability and biocompatibility to the particles but also promotes the encapsulation of curcumin into the interface of hydrophobic layers between Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and Pluronic coating. The drug loading efficiency of about 98% was observed at drug to particles ratio of 1 : 2 and curcumin loaded PSMNPS (CUR–PSMNPs) showed pH dependent release behaviour. The CUR and CUR–PSMNPs showed significant reduction in proliferation of MCF-7 cells with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of be 25.1 and 18.4 μM, respectively. The higher toxicity of CUR–PSMNPs was further confirmed by cellular uptake and cellular imaging studies. These results suggested that CUR–PSMNPs formulation is superior than pure curcumin in causing tumor cytotoxicity, which is possibly due to the increase in the bioavailability of drug to the targeted site.