Preparation of curcumin-loaded poly(ester amine) nanoparticles for the treatment of anti-angiogenesis.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to prepare curcumin loaded poly(ester amine) nanoparticles and enhance their hydrophilicity and treatment efficacy on anti-angiogenesis zebra fish model. Poly(ester amine) (PEA) copolymer was synthesized in this study. The curcumin-loaded PEA nanoparticles were prepared through double emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. The average particle size of obtained nanoparticles was about 100 nm. The zeta potential of prepared nanoparticles was about 35.8+/-2.4 mV. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated a narrow size distribution with in vitro release profile demonstrating in vitro slow release of curcumin from the PEA nanoparticles. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the curcumin encapsulated PEA nanoparticles nearly had the same tendency of cytotoxic activity in vitro with free curcumin on tumor cells. In vitro cellular uptake of the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles demonstrated in Hela cells demonstrated that this kind of nanoparticles can be a promising candidate as a drug delivery system to cancer cells. The Cur/PEA nanoparticles more efficiently inhibited angiogenesis (in vivo) in transgenic zebra fish model and Alginate-encapsulated tumor cells than free curcumin. No mortality or significant lesions were observed from histopathological study of the major organs. From our results, we can conclude that the prepared PEA nanoparticles are an efficient curcumin drug delivery system for anti-angiogenesis therapy.