Effect of cytotoxicity of pegylated liposomal recombinant human erythropoietin-alfa on neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the cytotoxic effect of pegylated liposomal Recombinant Human Erythropoietin-alfa (rHuEPO) nano particles synthesized by reverse phase evaporation technique on SH-SY5Y cell line. Methods: To prepare the nano particles of the drug, rHuEPO, PEG3000, cholesterol and phosphatidylcholine were dissolved in buffer phosphate. The characteristics of the synthesized nanoparticles were determined by a zetasizer. Encapsulation efficiency, drug loading efficiency and drug release pattern were evaluated spectrophotometrically. The cytotoxicity effect of pegylated nanoliposomal rHuEPO was evaluated on SH-SY5Y cell line by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results: Size and zeta potential of pegylated nanoliposomal drug and blank pegylated nanoliposomes were 571 ± 6.8 nm, -16.5 mV; 280 ± 4.71 nm and -27.1 mV, respectively. Encapsulation and drug loading efficiency were 89 ± 3.9% and 0.8 ± 0.012%, respectively. Drug release data indicate that 17% of rHuEPO was released from pegylated liposomal nanoparticles over a period of 30 h. The difference in cytotoxicity between the free drug (IC50 = 110.1 ± 3.1 µg/ml) and nanodrug (IC50 = 87.2 ± 2.3 µg/ml) was statistically significant (p ˂ 0.05). Conclusion: This study shows that pegylated nanoliposomal rHuEPO has a powerful cytotoxic effect on SH-SY5Y cell line and is therefore a suitable alternative to the standard therapy, rHuEPO, for the chemotherapy of neuroblastoma.