Design of carrageenan based nanocarrier as a drug nanocarrier for tumor targeting: Radiolabeling and biodistribution

Abstract

Since anti-cancer drugs damage healthy tissues, targeted therapy, especially in cancer treatment, is becoming more important. Thus, many studies have examined delivery systems to mitigate these effects. Carrageenan/poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (CAR-PNIPAm) based nanocarriers for the delivery of Doxorubicin (DOX) drugs were prepared and characterized in this study. Gamma irradiation was used to create the nanocarriers, while FT-IR, AFM, and DLS were used to characterize them. Particle size was studied in relation to irradiation dose (10–50 kGy) and total polymer content (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt%). At pH 5.6 and 7.2, the nanocarrier’s DOX- releasing behavior was studied. According to our findings, the smallest particle size (71 nm) and zeta poten- tial (− 13.2 mV) were found in nanocarriers produced with 40 kGy and 1 wt% of CAR-PNIPAm. The zeta potential shifted to a more stable − 30mV after DOX injection. pH was shown to have an effect on the rate at which DOX was released from the nanocarrier. DOX/CAR-PNIPAm nanocarriers efficiently suppressed HepG-2 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines, according to in vitro experiments. In vivo biodistribution experiments were also performed in both normal and solid tumor-bearing mice using a radiolabeled 99mTc-DOX/CAR-PNIPAm nanocarrier. A greater T/NT ratio and cell targeting were seen 30 min post-injection in the solid tumour model, demonstrating that the nanocarrier demonstrated tumor targeting potential. In conclusion, our results lend credence to the feasibility of 99mTc-DOX/CAR-PNIPAm nanocarrier for use in therapeutic and diagnostic settings aimed at targeting tumors.