Retinoic Acid Decorated Albumin-Chitosan Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of Doxorubicin Hydrochloride in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Retinoic acid (R) grafted chitosan (C) copolymers with different degree of substitution of retinoic acid on the chitosan were synthesized. Retinoic acid targeted chitosan-albumin nanoparticles were prepared for targeted delivery of doxorubicin in hepatocellular carcinoma by coacervation method. Physical properties of nanoparticles including particle size, zeta potential, drug loading efficiency, and drug release profiles were studied. TEM micrographs were taken to see the morphology of nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity of doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles was studied on HepG2 cells using MTT assay and their cellular uptake by fluorescence microscopy. FTIR and1HNMR spectra confirmed successful production of RC conjugate which was used in production of the targeted RC-albumin nanoparticles. IC50of drug loaded in these nanoparticles reduced to half and one-third compared to nontargeted nanoparticles and free drug, respectively.