In vitro evaluation of biodegradable lignin-based nanoparticles for drug delivery and enhanced antiproliferation effect in cancer cells

Publication date: March 2017
Source:Biomaterials, Volume 121
Author(s): Patrícia Figueiredo, Kalle Lintinen, Alexandros Kiriazis, Ville Hynninen, Zehua Liu, Tomás Bauleth-Ramos, Antti Rahikkala, Alexandra Correia, Tomáš Kohout, Bruno Sarmento, Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma, Jouni Hirvonen, Olli Ikkala, Mauri A. Kostiainen, Hélder A. Santos
Currently, nanosystems have been developed and applied as promising vehicles for different biomedical applications. We have developed three lignin nanoparticles (LNPs): pure lignin nanoparticles (pLNPs), iron(III)-complexed lignin nanoparticles (Fe-LNPs), and Fe3O4-infused lignin nanoparticles (Fe3O4-LNPs) with round shape, narrow size distribution, reduced polydispersity and good stability at pH 7.4. The LNPs showed low cytotoxicity in all the tested cell lines and hemolytic rates below 12% after 12 h of incubation. Additionally, they induced hydrogen peroxide production in a small extent and time-dependent manner, and the interaction with the cells increased over time, exhibiting a dose-dependent cell uptake. Concerning the drug loading, pLNPs showed the capacity to efficiently load poorly water-soluble drugs and other cytotoxic agents, e.g. sorafenib and benzazulene (BZL), and improve their release profiles at pH 5.5 and 7.4 in a sustained manner. Furthermore, the BZL-pLNPs presented an enhanced antiproliferation effect in different cells compared to the pure BZL and showed a maximal inhibitory concentration ranging from 0.64 to 12.4 μM after 24 h incubation. Overall, LNPs are promising candidates for drug delivery applications, and the superparamagnetic behavior of Fe3O4-LNPs makes them promising for cancer therapy and diagnosis, such as magnetic targeting and magnetic resonance imaging.



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