Anticancer Properties of Cu NPs Coated with BSA NPs

Copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) have been recognized as biocompatible element in human being for century. But its medical consumption as anticancer agent is predominantly an emerging field. On the other hand, albumin is a multipurpose protein carrier for drug delivery and it is ideal material to synthesize nanoparticles for drug delivery. In the present study, Cu NPs were coated with bovine serum albumin to control apoptosis by a desolvation technique. The molecular properties of the Cu NPs coated with BSA NPs (Cu-NAs) were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering for size distribution and zeta potential. Human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB 231 cells) were then cultured in the presence of the nanoparticles to evaluate the cytotoxicity of Cu-NAs by the MTT colorimetric technique. The synthesized Cu-NAs showed nanoparticle size distribution from 52.5 to 83.5 nm and mean diameter of 62.7 nm. Zeta potential of Cu-NAs was -10.76 mV in pH 7.05. The effect of Cu-NAs and Cu-NPs on MDA-MB 231 cells exhibit a dose-dependent toxicity for the cells tested and the viability of MDA-MB 231 decreased to 50% by 70 μM and 80 μM respectively. This findings clearly verified that albumin nanoparticle enhance anticancer effect of Cu-NPs. The strongly biocompatibility feature of the albumin nanoparticles and Cu-NPs will made Cu-NAs as a nano-prodrug of breast cancer (MDA-MB 231) chemothrapy.