Synthesis, characterization, in vitro cytotoxicity and DNA interaction studies of antioxidant ferulic acid loaded on γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂ nanoparticles

Abstract

In this investigation, Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were prepared via a chemical coprecipitation reaction, and the surface of Fe₃O₄ MNPs was coated with silica by a sol-gel process. The surface of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ MNPs was modified by an antioxidant agent, trans-ferulic acid, to achieve water-soluble MNPs for biological applications. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed that the MNPs were successfully coated with SiO₂ and ferulic acid (FA) ligand. The morphology of γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-FA MNPs was found to be spherical in images of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and showed a uniform size distribution with an average diameter of 21 nm. The in vitro cytotoxic activity of γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-FA MNPs and FA were investigated against the human cancer cells (MCF-7, PC-3, U-87 MG, A-2780, and A-549) by MTT colorimetric assay. The cytotoxic effect of MNPs on all cancer cell lines was several times of magnitude higher compared to free FA except for A-549 cell lines. Furthermore, in vitro DNA binding studies were investigated by UV–vis and circular dichroism spectroscopies.

Keywords:

• Magnetic nanoparticles
• coprecipitation reaction
• ferulic acid
• antiproliferative effect
• cancer cell line

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the financial support from Razi University Research Center.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.