Anticancer Activity of Tamoxifen Loaded Tyrosine Decorated Biocompatible Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles Against Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

Abstract: In this work we reported the synthesis of tamoxifen (TMX) loaded l-tyrosine natural amino acids (Tyr) modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles. Tyr, which was containing phenol groups was selected to study their effects on biocompatibility, loading capacity and release profile of TMX. TMX loaded Tyr modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (F@Tyr@TMX NPs) were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermo gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results showed that the ζ-potential of F@Tyr@TMX NPs was about − 12.8 mV and the average size was 22.19 ± 3.58 [mean ± SD (n = 50)] nm. The loading capacity of 11.34 ± 0.09% and encapsulation efficiency of 51.21 ± 0.41%. Additionally, hemolysis test and MTT assays on HEK-293 were performed for determination of biocompatibility of F@Tyr@TMX NPs. Finally, the anticancer activity of F@Tyr@TMX NPs studied on MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The results indicate that these as prepared magnetic nanoparticles are suitable for delivery of TMX and even other hydrophobic drugs.