QUERCETIN-LOADED MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES: A PROMISING TOOL FOR ANTITUMOR TREATMENT IN BREAST CANCER CELLS

TIBURZI SILVINA; LEZCANO VIRGINIA; PRINCIPE GABRIEL; MONTIEL SCHNEIDER MARIA G; LASSALLE VERÓNICA; GONZÁLEZ PARDO VERÓNICA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2023

SAIC

Quercetin (QUE) is a phytoestrogen with known antitumor effects. Its hydrophobicity and low bioavailability are a limitation to be used as an anticancer drug. One strategy to overcome this difficulty is to load QUE in a non-toxic nanocarrier. The aim of this study was to investigate the biological activity of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated with polyethylene glycol (Mag@PEG) loaded with QUE in a human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Our previous research has shown that Mag@PEG alone (0-150 µg mL-1) is not cytotoxic for MCF-7 cells and can be targeted to a specific area when an external magnetic field is applied. To continue these studies, further analysis of MCF-7 3D cultures evidenced the presence of Mag@PEG inside the spheroid by histological techniques. Then, Mag@PEG was loaded with QUE by adding an alcoholic solution of the polyphenol to an aqueous dispersion of Mag@PEG. The incorporation of QUE was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy and quantified by UV-visible spectroscopy. Cytotoxic studies in MCF-7 cells incubated with Mag@PEG@QUE at a concentration equivalent to the IC50 of free QUE (75 µM) for 48 h showed that Mag@PEG@QUE significantly decreased the cell proliferation by crystal violet staining (p