Synthesis, characterization and in vitro evaluation of doxorubicin and tannic acid nanoparticles.

Resumen

Breast cancer is one of the most common and deadly neoplasms in women worldwide. However, treatment withdoxorubicin, a widely used chemotherapeutic agent for this disease, is limited by its high toxicity and systemic sideeffects. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies, such as the use of nanoparticles, have been explored with thepotential to enhance treatment efficacy and reduce toxicity [1]. In this context, the main objective of this work hasbeen the synthesis and characterization of doxorubicin nanoparticles coated with tannic acid. The latter was chosenas a coating due to its various beneficial biological activities, such as its antitumoral properties, which are related tothe expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Tannic acid can enhance the effectiveness ofchemotherapy and also reduce its toxicity through numerous mechanisms, including anti-inflammatory andantioxidant activities, among others [2]. Additionally, the antitumoral efficiency of these nanoparticles is beingevaluated both in silico and in vitro in cell cultures showing different EGFR expression, aiming to explore theirpotential application in anticancer therapies.Methods: Tannic acid-coated doxorubicin nanoparticles (TADOX) were synthesized according to a method developed by ourgroup [3]. The process was modified to ensure the proper formation of stable nanoparticles with the desired size.Subsequently, TADOX nanoparticles were characterized by techniques such as Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, cytotoxicity assays of thenanoparticles were conducted on breast cancer cell lines and Molecular Docking (MD) calculations were performed usingautodock Vina 1.2.5.Results and conclusions: We have managed to obtain TADOX nanoparticles whose stability, surface charge, hydrodynamicdiameter and polydispersity index make them suitable for use in biomedical applications. Thus, according to theircharacteristics, TADOX are suitable for passive targeting and tissue penetration. Their composition was validated by UV-Visand FTIR, and their stability was confirmed by zeta potential measurements. Breast cancer tumor cells have shown differentsensitivity to our nanoparticles depending on their genetical profile. MD calculations were used to get a picture on themicroscopic scale.