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

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.