Antitumor activity associated with hyperthermia and 4-nitrochalcone loaded in superparamagnetic poly(thioether-ester) nanoparticles

Abstract

The combination of hyperthermia and chemotherapy has a potential synergic effect in antitumor activity. The development of new biocompatible and biodegradable polymers to simultaneously encapsulate magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and antitumoral drugs offer new cancer treatment opportunities. Here, biodegradable and biocompatible poly(thioether-ester) (PTEe) was used to encapsulate MNPs and 4-nitrochalcone (4NC) using miniemulsification and solvent evaporation. The resulting hybrid particles (MNPs-4NC-PTEe) had nanometer-scale diameters, spherical morphology, negative surface charge, high encapsulation efficiency, and superparamagnetic properties. Results showed that 4NC release occurred through diffusion. Free 4NC and MNPs + 4NC-PTEe did not have any cytotoxic effect on erythrocytes and mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH3T3) cells. 4NC antitumor activity was verified on human cervical cancer (HeLa) and melanoma (B16F10) cells. Cellular uptake of MNPs + 4NC-PTEe nanoparticles was higher in HeLa cells compared to B16F10 and NIH3T3 cells. The hyperthermia application (115 kHz–500 Oe) potentiated the 4NC effects on HeLa and B16F10 cells when MNPs + 4NC-PTEe nanoparticles were used, indicating more effective antitumor activity. We concluded that the use of MNPs + 4NC-PTEe nanoparticles associated with hyperthermia is a promising form of treatment for some types of cancers.

Keywords:

• 4-Nitrochalcone
• flow cytometer
• hyperthermia
• superparamagnetic nanoparticles
• poly (thioether-ester)

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank: Laboratório Central de Microscopia Eletrônica at Federal University of Santa Catarina (LCME-UFSC) for TEM images and Multi-user laboratory of the Department of Physics from the Federal University of Santa Catarina for VSM analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq – Brazil) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES – Brazil).