Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPSs) are highly heterogeneous
polymers produced by fungi and bacteria that have garnered considerable attention and have remarkable potential in various fields, including biomedical research. The necessity of
biocompatible materials to coat and stabilize nanoparticles is highly recommended for successful application of the same in biomedical regime. In our study we have coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with two bacterial EPS-
mauran (MR) and
gellan gum (GG). The biocompatibility of EPS coated MNPs was enhanced and we have made it multifunctional by attaching targeting moiety,
folate and with encapsulation of a potent anticancerous
drug,
5FU. We have conjugated an imaging moiety along with nanocomposite to study the effective uptake of nanoparticles. It was also observed that the
dye labeled
folate targeted nanoparticles could effectively enter into
cancer cells and the fate of nanoparticles was tracked with
Lysotracker. The biocompatibility of EPS coated MNPs and synergistic effect of magnetic
hyperthermia and
drug for enhanced antiproliferation of
cancer cells was also evaluated. More than 80% of
cancer cells was killed within a period of 60 min when magnetic
hyperthermia (
MHT) was applied along with
drug loaded EPS coated MNPs, thus signifying the combined effect of
drug loaded MNPs and
MHT. Our results suggests that MR and GG coated MNPs exhibited excellent biocompatibility with low cell cytotoxicity, high therapeutic potential, and superparamagnetic behavior that can be employed as prospective candidates for bacterial EPS based targeted
drug delivery,
cancer cell imaging and for
MHT for killing
cancer cells within short period of time.