Anticancer Activity of Copolymeric Nanoparticles Loaded by Plumbagin on Breast Cancer cells

In medical sciences, identifying the anticancer properties of plumbagin is of special importance. For this reason, this study investigated the anticancer activity of polymeric nanoparticles loaded by plumbagin against breast cancer cells.

In this descriptive study, the diblock copolymer mPEG–PCL was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of caprolactone in the presence of mPEG as the initiator and Sn(oct)2 as the catalyst. The synthesized copolymers were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, gel permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The nanoprecipitation method was used for preparing nanoparticles loaded with plumbagin. The characteristics of these nanoparticles were investigated by various techniques including dynamic light scattering. The cytotoxicity of plumbagin, copolymer, and the nanoparticles loaded with plumbagin on MCF7 and HFF2 cells was evaluated by MTT assay.

The average diameter of the nanoparticles was less than 115 nm. The loading capacity and encapsulation efficiencies were 15.4±0.13% and 79.1±0.65%, respectively. Drug release was slow, controlled, and almost dependent on pH. The results of the MTT assay showed strong and dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth by the plumbagin-loaded micelles compared with plumbagin alone in a way that the half maximal inhibitory concentration of this nanoparticle against MCF7 cells after 48 and 72 hours was 10.78 and 24.03 μM, respectively.

The mPEG-PCL nanoparticles can be an efficient carrier for plumbagin, and plumbagin can be an effective drug on breast cancer cells, without toxicity on healthy cells.