In vitro anticancer activity of doxorubicin-loaded gelatin-coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

Magnetic drug targeting allows accumulation of drug at a defined target site with the help of an external magnetic field. Current research explored uptake and anticancer activity of doxorubicin-loaded gelatin-coated magnetic iron oxide particles (DXR-GIOPs) in order to investigate potential of gelatin-coated iron oxide particles (GIOPs) as a drug carrier in the field of magnetic drug targeting. The in vitro test was done using HeLa cells as a model cell and DXR as a model drug. The cytotoxicity and uptake of GIOPs were also studied and results were compared with that of DXR-GIOPs. The results indicated that GIOPs were not toxic to HeLa cells even at higher concentration of 1.2 mg/mL; however, DXR-GIOPs showed toxicity in time as well as dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, quantitative and qualitative uptake studies showed higher uptake of DXR-GIOPs compared to GIOPs in the identical condition by the cells.