Formulation and Characterization of Poly (Ethylene Glycol)-Coated Core-Shell Methionine Magnetic Nanoparticles as a Carrier for Naproxen Delivery: Growth Inhibition of Cancer Cells

Simple Summary Naproxen was loaded onto a magnetic nanoparticle coated with polyethylene glycol. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were used in this study to develop a smart naproxen delivery system. One of the most potent COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors is naproxen, which belongs to the NSAID family of drugs. Although this drug has a short half-life, it has considerable toxicities and side effects on gastrointestinal tissues. The significant potential of our proposed nanocarrier for biomedical applications has been widely recognized; we modified MNPs to attach to this drug via disulfide bonds, promote the selective release of naproxen in inflammatory cells, and prevent adverse effects on the digestive system. It was found that the cytotoxicity of the drug was lowered by this change, which prevented unspecific protein binding. An efficient and selective drug delivery vehicle for cancer cells can remarkably improve therapeutic approaches. In this study, we focused on the synthesis and characterization of magnetic Ni1-xCoxFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) coated with two layers of methionine and polyethylene glycol to increase the loading capacity and lower toxicity to serve as an efficient drug carrier. Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine@PEG NPs were synthesized by a reflux method then characterized by FTIR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, and VSM. Naproxen was used as a model drug and its loading and release in the vehicles were evaluated. The results for loading efficiency showed 1 mg of Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine@PEG NPs could load 0.51 mg of the naproxen. Interestingly, Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine@PEG showed a gradual release of the drug, achieving a time-release up to 5 days, and demonstrated that a pH 5 release of the drug was about 20% higher than Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine NPs, which could enhance the intracellular drug release following endocytosis. At pH 7.4, the release of the drug was slower than Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine NPs; demonstrating the potential to minimize the adverse effects of anticancer drugs on normal tissues. Moreover, naproxen loaded onto the Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine@PEG NPs for breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 showed more significant cell death than the free drug, which was measured by an MTT assay. When comparing both cancer cells, we demonstrated that naproxen loaded onto the Ni1-xCoxFe2O4@Methionine@PEG NPs exhibited greater cell death effects on the MCF-7 cells compared with the MDA-MB-231 cells. The results of the hemolysis test also showed good hemocompatibility. The results indicated that the prepared magnetic nanocarrier could be suitable for controlled anticancer drug delivery.