In Silico and In Vitro Evaluation of Chitosan-Folate Coated Nanoliposomes Loaded With Cassia alata Leaf Extract for...

The advancement of drug delivery systems (DDSs) for controlled and targeted release needs further development to provide efficient cancer treatment. In this research, nanoliposomes (Lip) containing Cassia alata extract (CA) coated with chitosan-folate (Chi-FA) have been successfully synthesized as a DDS to breast cancer cells. Anticancer compounds were extracted from CA, and the effects of several parameters, such as ethanol concentration, ultrasonication time, and simplicia:solvent ratio, were analyzed using the response surface methodology (RSM). The successful conjugation of Chi-FA was observed using UV-Vis, FTIR, and XRD. The formation of Lip, CA-loaded nanoliposomes (Lip-CA), and Chi-FA coated Lip-CA (Lip-CA@Chi-FA) was validated using ATR-FTIR and TEM. Drug release studies show that nanoliposomes are selective in cancer cell conditions. The use of chitosan folate-conjugated nanoliposome encapsulation can deliver the extract more targeted to T47D breast cancer cells. The cytotoxicity test showed that Lip-CA@Chi-FA exhibited an IC₅₀ value of 53.46 µg/mL against T47D cells, indicating moderate anticancer activity and improved delivery efficiency compared to non-encapsulated extract. In silico studies to predict pharmacokinetics and molecular docking simulations of the main compounds of CA support the experimental findings.