Therapeutic Potential of Lactoferrin-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Targeted Hyperthermia in Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Abstract Lactoferrin (LF) is a non-heme iron-binding glycoprotein involved in the transport of iron in blood plasma. In addition, it has many biological functions, including antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and, most importantly, antitumor activities. In this study, we have investigated the potential of lactoferrin-iron oxide nanoparticles (LF-IONPs) for the treatment of gastric cancer. The study confirms the formation of LF-IONPs with a spherical shape and size of 5 ± 2 nm, embedded in the protein matrix. FTIR and RAMAN analysis revealed that the Fe-O bond stabilized the protein particle interactions. Further, we conducted hyperthermia studies to ascertain whether the proposed composite can generate a sufficient rise in temperature at a low frequency. The results confirmed that we can achieve a temperature rise of about 7 ºC at 242.4 kHz, which can be further exploited in treating gastric cancer. The particles were further tested for their anticancer activity on AGS cells, with and without hyperthermia. Results showed that LF-IONPs significantly enhanced cytotoxicity and inhibition of migration in LF-IONPs treated cells compared to control cells, with the most inhibition seen after 36 h of treatment. These findings suggest LF-IONPs potential for targeted hyperthermia treatment.