Prostate cancer is one of the prominent causes of cancer mortality in men all over the world and a challenge to treat. In this study, transferrin (Tf) bioconjugated solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were developed and loaded with curcumin (CRC) for active targeting of prostate cancer cells. Curcumin is an anticancer agent, but its clinical applications are impeded due to the poor water solubility and bioavailability. Prepared blank Tf-SLNs showed minimal cytotoxicity while Tf-CRC-SLNs demonstrated significant in-vitro anti-proliferative activity compared to CRC-SLNs alone. Cellular uptake of Tf-CRC-SLNs were found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05/=0.01) compared to unconjugated SLNs or pure drug alone. Bioconjugated Tf-CRC-SLNs also showed improved early apoptotic and late apoptotic or early necrotic populations (6.4% and 88.9% respectively) to CRC-SLNs and CRC solution. Most importantly, in-vivo studies with Tf-CRC-SLNs in mice bearing prostate cancer revealed significant tumour regression (392.64 mm3 after 4 weeks, p < 0.001) compared to the control group. The findings of this work encourage future investigations and further in-vivo clinical studies on the potential of bioconjugated SLNs for cancer cure.
Keywords: Bioconjugation; Curcumin; Prostate cancer; Solid lipid nanoparticles; Transferrin.
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