The Cytotoxic Effect of Annona muricata-Loaded PHB-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles on Cancer Cell Lines and Molecular Docking Analyses

Abstract

In this study, we designed PHB-coated iron oxide–based nanoparticle for the delivery of Annona muricata to breast cancer cells and analyzed its therapeutic efficacy in vitro. The structural properties, functional groups, size distribution, and magnetic properties of the synthesized PHB-coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were characterized in our previous study. The current study visualized protein–ligand interactions by the use of molecular docking. The plant extract was loaded onto PHB-MNPs in different concentrations and the release efficiencies at different pHs were studied under in vitro conditions. The most efficient loading concentration was found about 55% in pH 7.4. The extract-loaded MNPs were stable up to 3 months in neutral pH for mimicking physiological conditions. The release studies were performed with acetate buffer (pH 4.2) that mimics endosomal pH. The plant extract-loaded PHB-MNPs were about 2.5–3-fold more cytotoxic as compared with free plant extract on HeLa and MDA-MB-231 in vitro, respectively. The cytotoxicity results also confirm that anti-apoptotic proteins have the best docking score for isoquercetin–PHB-MNPs, roseoside–PHB-MNPs, and anonaine–PHB-MNPs with molecular docking analyses. Based on the results obtained, this system can be used effectively in cancer treatment. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.