Umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticles: Antiproliferation evaluation on human Fibrosarcoma cell line (HT-1080)

The potential applications of Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) in nanomedicine as drug delivery systems are well known. In this study we prepared umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 MNPs and evaluated the antiproliferative effect of combination in vitro. After synthesis of Fe3O4 MNPs, particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy techniques. The natural candidate compound — umbelliprenin— was isolated and identified and umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 MNPs were prepared, using precipitation method. The surface chemistry of umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 MNPs as well as their thermal decomposition characteristics was examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric Analyzer equipment, respectively. HT-1080 cells were cultured until the logarithmic phase of growth, and MTT assay was successfully carried out to evaluate the possible cytotoxic effects of umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 MNPs in viable cells in vitro. The results demonstrated that umbelliprenin has moderate antiproliferative effects with IC50 value of 50 µg/mL. However, the combination of umbelliprenin and Fe3O4 MNPs showed the IC50 value of 9 µg/mL. In other words, cell proliferation decreased to the remarkably-low proportion of 45% after treating cells with umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 MNPs. This suggests that with the aid of nanoparticles as carriers, natural products may have even broader range of medical applications in future.