RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Discovering new chemotherapy drugs and techniques with the least side effects is one of the most important and challenging issues in recent years worldwide. Chlorambucil is an anticancer drug that is still commonly used as a primary treatment in treating some cancers, but it can cause side effects. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we decided to use chitosan as a carrier to enhance the uptake of chlorambucil and reduce the toxicity of this drug. METHODS: After producing this nanoconjugate compound and analysing its structure by FTIR, DLS and AFM analysis, we investigated the therapeutic and biological effects of this nanoconjugate compound on the MCF-7 cell line (breast cancer). RESULTS: The results of the MTT assay showed that this nanoconjugate compound not only retained its anticancer effect against chlorambucil but also showed less abnormal toxicity. In addition, in vitro cellular uptake by flow cytometry indicated the better uptake final product into the MCF-7 cells. The detection of apoptosis induced cell death was confirmed by RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: This study has created a prospective pathway for targeting cancer cells using chitosan.