AUTHOR=Bhagwat Geeta S. , Athawale Rajani B. , Gude Rajeev P. , Md Shadab , Alhakamy Nabil A. , Fahmy Usama A. , Kesharwani Prashant 

TITLE=Formulation and Development of Transferrin Targeted Solid Lipid Nanoparticles for Breast Cancer Therapy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.614290

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2020.614290

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=Breast cancer is conventionally treated by surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed by post operational hormonal therapy. Tamoxifen citrate is a selective estrogen receptor modulator used for the treatment of  estrogen sensitive breast cancer. Owing to its antiestrogenic action on breast as well as uterine cells, Tamoxifen citrate shows uterine toxicity. The dose 20mg per day of Tamoxifen citrate required to show therapeutic effect causes side effects and toxicity to vital organs such as liver, kidney and uterus. In this study, transferrin-conjugated solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were successfully prepared to enhance the active targeting of tamoxifen citrate in breast cancer. Developed formulations were characterized for particle size, zeta potential, surface morphology and in vitro dissolution studies. Developed formulations exhibited more cytotoxicity as compared to pure Tamoxifen citrate solution in time as well as concentration dependent manner on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Further, cell uptake and flow cytometry studies confirmed the qualitative uptake of developed D-SLN and SMD-SLN by human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Overall, proposed study highlights that transferrin engineered nanocarriers could enhance the therapeutic response of nanomedicines in the treatment of breast cancer.