Human serum albumin nanoparticles (HSA-NPs) have been widely used as drug delivery systems. In most cases, HSA-NPs are formed by the method of desolvation in the presence of glutaraldehyde as a crosslinking agent. In the present study, we showed the possibility of crosslinking human serum albumin (HSA) molecules with natural agents, urea, and cysteine at the nanoparticle level under mild conditions (at room temperature of 20-25 °C). Optimal concentrations of the interacting components (HSA, urea, and cysteine) were found to produce nanoparticles with optimal physico-chemical parameters (particle size, polydispersity, zeta potential, yield, etc.) for application as drug carriers. We used hydroxyurea (HU), a simple organic compound currently used as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent. The results indicated sizes of 196 ± 5 nm and 288 ± 10 nm with a surface charge of -22 ± 3.4 mV and -17.4 ± 0.5 mV for HSA-NPs (20 mg/mL of HSA, 0.01 mg/mL of cysteine, and 10 mg/mL of urea) and HSA-HU-NPs (2 mg/mL of HU), respectively. The yield of the HSA-HU-NPs was ~93% with an encapsulation efficiency of ~77%. Thus, the particles created (immobilized with HU) were stable over time and able to prolong the effect of the drug.
Keywords: cancer; human serum albumin; hydroxyurea; nanoparticles.