Abstract
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•Surface modification of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs) using the medicinal plant curcumin (Cur).•The conjugation of curcumin with iron oxide (IONs@Cur) improves the safety profile of IONs.•The developed nanocarrier greatly enhance curcumin bioavailability and cellular uptake.•The promising nanoformulation potentiates therapeutic efficacy of curcumin against hepatocellular carcinoma.
Curcumin’s excellent conjugation capability with iron oxide nanoparticles plays a crucial role in enhancing both properties. Iron oxide, as a nanocarrier, will improve curcumin anticancer activity, while curcumin, as a capping agent, will minimize iron oxide nanoparticles toxicity and optimize their biomedical use.
Cytotoxic and antioxidant effects of free curcumin (free Cur) and curcumin capped iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs@Cur) against human liver cancer cells (HepG2) were investigated in vitro. The genomic effect of free Cur and IONs@Cur on the expression of tumor suppressor gene (TP53), autophagy 4 (ATG-4), and superoxide dismutase (SOD2) genes were assessed using quantitative PCR (qPCR).
IONs@Cur results showed significant cytotoxic effects against HepG2 cells, compared with free Cur, and the measured total antioxidant capacity (TAC) for HepG2 cells treated with IONs@Cur was superior to free Cur. Additionally, the treatment with IONs@Cur significantly upregulated the gene expression levels of SOD2 and TP53. Remarkably, the immunofluorescence staining of ATG-4 demonstrated that curcumin conjugation with IONs potentiated the cancer killing effect of curcumin via inducing autophagy.
The promising iron oxide nanocarrier would greatly enhance curcumin anticancer activities against HepG2 cells.