Synthesis and in vitro anti-cancer evaluation of tamoxifen-loaded magnetite/PLLA composite nanoparticles

The present study deals with the synthesis and characterization of tamoxifen-loaded magnetite/poly(l-lactic acid) composite nanoparticles (TMCN), and their in vitro anti-cancer activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The composite nanoparticles with an average size of ∼200 nm, were synthesized via a solvent evaporation/extraction technique in an oil/water emulsion. The superparamagnetic property (saturation magnetization value of ∼7 emu/g) of the TMCN is provided by Fe3O4 nanoparticles of ∼6 nm encapsulated in the poly(l-lactic acid) matrix. The encapsulation efficiency of the Fe3O4 and tamoxifen as a function of the concentration in the organic phase was investigated. The uptake of TMCN and tamoxifen by MCF-7 was estimated from the intracellular iron concentration. After 4 h incubation of MCF-7 with TMCN, significant changes in the cell morphology were discernible from phase contrast microscopy. Cytotoxicity assay shows that while the Fe3O4-loaded poly(l-lactic acid) composite nanoparticles exhibit no significant cytotoxicity against MCF-7, ∼80% of the these cells were killed after incubation for 4 days with TMCN.