Synthesis and characterization of folic acid-functionalized, doxorubicin-loaded magnetic nanoparticles as drug delivery system for cancer

Cancer is one of the primary causes of death in the world and the prevalence in Indonesia reaches 1,4% per year. One method of the most developed cancer therapies right now is targeting drug delivery. Targeting drug delivery makes it possible for drugs to be delivered directly to the targeted cells and released once they reach the destination. The aim of this research is to develop a nanocarrier using folic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to improve the effectiveness of antitumor drugs for cancer therapy. The magnetic nanoparticles synthesis method used in this research is chemical synthesis. Chemical materials FeCl₃ and FeCl₂ are mixed with NH₄OH until magnetic nanoparticles appear. The magnetic nanoparticles obtained are then coated using bovine serum albumin, loaded with the drug doxorubicin, and functionalized with folic acid. The characterization methods used are Brine Shrimp Lethal Test (BSLT), X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Particle Size Analyzer (PSA), and MTT Assay. The success of drug release test is performed using UV-Vis. The results of this research showed that the magnetic nanoparticles were non-toxic with no impurities, but had not passed the size requirement as a good nanocarrier. Drug release in acidic pH, which is 5.4, had the highest release rate, thus it would be suitable for cancer cells which have lower pH compared to normal cells. Cytotoxicity test using MTT Assay method with murine osteoblastic cell line MC3T3 cells showed quite high cell viability, so it will not affect normal tissues and cells. It can be concluded that folic acid-functionalized, doxorubicin-loaded magnetic nanoparticles have potential to be used as nanocarrier in drug delivery system.