Ranjbaran Hooriyeh, Maboudi Sayed Ali, Moshtaghioun Seyed Mohammad, Shojaosadati Seyed Abbas
Department of Biology, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
Iran Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
Drug Dev Ind Pharm. 2025 Aug 5:1-13. doi: 10.1080/03639045.2025.2542474.
Curcumin (CUR) is a natural phenolic compound with potent anticancer properties and potential as a photosensitizer (PS) for photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, its clinical application is limited by poor solubility, low bioavailability, and rapid degradation. To address these challenges, this study introduces curcumin-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (CUR-BSA NPs) as a pH-responsive drug delivery system for enhanced PDT in breast cancer treatment.
CUR-BSA NPs were synthesized using the desolvation method and characterized by using Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy.
The nanoparticles with size (∼170 nm), zeta potential (-36 ± 2.7 mV), and encapsulation efficiency (47.5%), demonstrated pH-responsive drug release, with higher curcumin release under acidic conditions, mimicking the tumor microenvironment. cytotoxicity studies on MCF-7 breast cancer cells revealed that CUR-BSA NPs, in combination with blue light irradiation (420 nm, 30 J/cm), significantly reduced cell viability to 69% after 48 h, while CUR-BSA NPs show lower cytotoxicity (45% vs. 68%) in the absence of photodynamic therapy. TUNEL assay confirmed apoptosis in 52.4% of treated cells, compared to 4.6% in the control group. Furthermore, CUR-BSA NPs displayed excellent biocompatibility in the absence of light exposure, reducing systemic toxicity.
These findings establish CUR-BSA NPs as a promising nanoplatform for PDT, providing enhanced drug delivery, tumor-targeted release, and improved therapeutic efficacy in breast cancer treatment.
姜黄素（CUR）是一种天然酚类化合物，具有强大的抗癌特性，并有潜力作为光动力疗法（PDT）的光敏剂（PS）。然而，其临床应用受到溶解度差、生物利用度低和快速降解的限制。为应对这些挑战，本研究引入负载姜黄素的牛血清白蛋白纳米颗粒（CUR-BSA NPs）作为一种pH响应型药物递送系统，用于增强乳腺癌治疗中的光动力疗法。
采用去溶剂法合成CUR-BSA NPs，并通过场发射扫描电子显微镜（FESEM）、动态光散射（DLS）、傅里叶变换红外（FT-IR）光谱进行表征。
纳米颗粒尺寸约为170nm，zeta电位为-36±2.7mV，包封率为47.5%，表现出pH响应型药物释放，在模拟肿瘤微环境的酸性条件下姜黄素释放量更高。对MCF-7乳腺癌细胞的细胞毒性研究表明，CUR-BSA NPs与蓝光照射（420nm，30J/cm）联合使用时，48小时后细胞活力显著降低至69%，而在无光动力疗法的情况下，CUR-BSA NPs的细胞毒性较低（45%对68%）。TUNEL检测证实，治疗细胞中有52.4%发生凋亡，而对照组为4.6%。此外，CUR-BSA NPs在无光照时表现出优异的生物相容性，降低了全身毒性。
这些发现确立了CUR-BSA NPs作为一种有前景的光动力疗法纳米平台，在乳腺癌治疗中提供了增强的药物递送、肿瘤靶向释放和提高的治疗效果。
