Folic Acid-Chitosan-PLGA Nano Delivery System Against Liver Cancer Cells: In Vitro Studies

Abstract

Among cancers, liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of mortality worldwide and drawbacks of conventional approaches could not inhibit this cancer. Thus, an efficient folic acid (FA)-functionalized chitosan (CS)-poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanocarrier was fabricated for delivery of sodium butyrate (NB) therapeutics to HepG2 liver cancer cells. The fabricated CS-NB-PLGA-FA nanocarrier was characterized by FT-IR, DLS, TEM, and TGA. A size range of 45 nm to 80 nm, surface charge of 4.2 mV, and drug encapsulation of 15.17% were measured for nanocarrier. Controlled (about fivefolds within 2 h) and pH-sensitive drug release manner observed in PBS as well. The MTT assay indicated that CS-NB-PLGA-FA resulted in about 13% cell viability after 24 h of treatment with 400 nM concentrations (IC₅₀: 300 nM). The qRT-PCR technique revealed nearly a 7.9- and 5.8-fold increase for Caspase9 and Bax genes while a decrease of about fivefold for the Bcl2 gene after treatment with CS-NB-PLGA-FA. Additionally, about 60% apoptosis was observed for the cells treated with nanocarrier. Remarkable enhancement did indicate for ROS (increase in the catalase and SOD units). These data have demonstrated that CS-NB-PLGA-FA could be a promising candidate against liver cancer.