Biocompatible bovine serum albumin (BSA)-dextran-chitosan nanoparticles were fabricated by heating the mixture of chitosan and BSA-dextran conjugates by virtue of the electrostatic attraction between BSA and chitosan as well as the gelation of BSA. The BSA-dextran conjugates were prepared by Maillard reaction. The nanoparticles were characterized by light scattering, zeta-potential, atomic force microscopy and pyrene fluorescence. The nanoparticles having a spherical shape and hydrodynamic diameters of 130-230 nm are stable in physiological condition. Doxorubicin can be effectively loaded into the nanoparticles after changing the pH of their mixture to 7.4 by virtue of the electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between the nanoparticles and doxorubicin. The antitumor effects of doxorubicin loaded nanoparticles were investigated by the tumor inhibition and survivability of murine ascites hepatoma H22 tumor-bearing mice. The loaded nanoparticles can largely decrease the toxicity of doxorubicin and significantly increase the survivability of the tumor-bearing mice.
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