Self-assembled silk fibroin nanoparticles loaded with binary drugs in the treatment of breast carcinoma

Abstract

Self-assembled nanoparticles of the natural polymer, silk fibroin (SF), are a very promising candidate in drug delivery due to their biocompatible and biodegradable properties. In this study, SF nanoparticles loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and curcumin with size 217±0.4 nm and with a loading efficacy of 45% and 15% for 5-FU and curcumin, respectively, were prepared. The in vitro release effect of 5-FU and curcumin from nanoparticles was evaluated as ~100% and ~5%, respectively. It has been revealed that the application of such a nanodrug can increase the level of reactive oxygen species, which in turn induces apoptosis of cancer cells in vitro. Animal studies have shown that tumors could be noticeably reduced after being injected with the drug-entrapped nanoparticles. More apoptotic cells were found after 7 days of treatment with SF nanoparticles by a hematoxylin–eosin staining assay. These results demonstrate the future potential of nanoparticle-loaded binary drugs in the treatment of breast cancer.

Keywords:

• silk fibroin nanoparticles
• 5-flurouracil
• curcumin
• reactive oxygen species

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry (K513401215), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M571809), Postdoctoral Fund of Jiangsu Province (7131707714), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (YX13400212).

Author contributions

All authors contributed toward data analysis, drafting and revising the paper and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflict of interest in this work.