Cytotoxic and DNA-binding Capacity of Titanocene Functionalized Mesoporous Nanoparticles in Breast Cancer Cell Lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231

Abstract

Aims: The fight against cancer is an active research topic that combines several disciplines to find suitable agents to treat various tumours.

Background: Following cisplatin, organometallic compounds, including titanocene derivatives, have been tested as antitumoral agents. However, key issues still need to be addressed in metallodrug chemotherapy relating to solubility, stability, and dosage. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles, being low toxic biocompatible materials with high loading capacity, are ideal candidates to overcome these problems.

Objective: This study aimed to prepare and structurally characterize titanocene functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles and evaluate their cytotoxic activity against cancer cells.

Methods: The preparation of titanocene functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles was achieved by synthetic protocols, involving either grafting or tethering. Characterization was carried out using standard techniques, FT-IR, XRD, XRF, TEM, and BET. The titanocene functionalized materials were studied as antitumoral agents in the breast cancer lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231.

Results: The functionalized MSN showed promising antitumoral activity against cells lines MCF-7 and MDAMB- 231 up to 9 times more than titanocene alone.

Conclusion: This study reported the potential of titanocene-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles in future chemotherapeutic actions.

Keywords: DNA-binding; Titanocene; anticancer; breast cancer; mesoporous silica; nanoparticles.