Polyelectrolyte nanoparticles derived from durian seed gum modified with chitosan for selective targeting in cancer...

The synthesis of natural polysaccharides from durian seed gum-modified chitosan as complex nanoparticles was successfully developed. The complex formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by ¹H NMR, indicating the interpenetrating polymer network between the durian seed gum and chitosan. The material's physical properties were analyzed using ZETA potential, SEM, FTIR, swelling assay, and spectrofluorometer. The material showed a pH-responsive behavior as evidenced by the swelling assay, in which the complex nanoparticle has a smaller swelling index in pH 5.5 and 7.4 than pH 2.1. The stability of the material was tested by checking the hydrodynamic diameter, which resulted in the modification of chitosan having higher kinetic stability than the durian seed gum under a diameter smaller than 1 μm. The chitosan-modified durian seed gum's hemolytic activity indicates blood compatibility with 4 % hemolytic activity under high nanoparticle concentration (400 μg/mL). More importantly, the cytotoxicity test of complex nanoparticles showed biocompatibility with NIH/3 T3 cells, whereas complex nanoparticles exhibited high toxicity towards HeLa cells. Moreover, complex nanoparticles showed strong intracellular blue fluorescence with selective activity towards cancer cells. Hence, this newly developed green synthesis of polyelectrolyte nanoparticles derived from durian seed gum modified with chitosan improved selectivity and intracellular fluorescence in tracking cancer cells.