The main focus of this study is to encapsulate hydrophobic
drug curcumin in hydrophilic polymeric core such as poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [
PHEMA] nanoparticles from gelled
ionic liquid (IL) to improve its efficacy. We have achieved 26.4%
drug loading in a biocompatible hydrophilic
polymer.
Curcumin loaded
PHEMA nanoparticles (C-
PHEMA-NPs) were prepared by nano-precipitation method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis showed that the prepared nanoparticles were spherical in shape and free from aggregation. The size and zeta potential of prepared C-
PHEMA-NPs were about 300 nm and -33.4 mV respectively. C-
PHEMA-NPs were further characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy which confirmed the existence of
curcumin in the nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry studies revealed that
curcumin present in the
PHEMA nanoparticles were found to be amorphous in nature. The anticancer activity of C-
PHEMA-NPs was measured in
ovarian cancer cells (SKOV-3) in vitro, and the results revealed that the C-
PHEMA-NPs had better
tumor cells regression activity than free
curcumin. Flow cytometry showed the significant reduction in G0/G1 cells
after treatment with C-
PHEMA-NPs and molecular level of apoptosis were also studied using western blotting. Toxicity of
PHEMA nanoparticles were studied in zebrafish embryo model and results revealed the material to be highly biocompatible. The present study demonstrates the
curcumin loaded
PHEMA nanoparticles have potential therapeutic values in the treatment of
cancer.