Preparation of pemetrexed loaded albumin nanoparticles and investigation of their efficacy in lung cancer cell lines

Albumin is the most abundant spherical protein in plasma and contains almost all amino acids in its structure. Furthermore, albumin is synthesized in the liver at a rate of about 0.7 mg / h. Albumin as drug delivery system; It is preferred in nanoparticle structure due to its protein structure, biodegradability, nontoxic, biocompatible and easily available. Pemetrexed is one of the cytotoxic agents used for non-small cell lung cancer and is a potent inhibitor of thymidylate synthase. However, life-threatening complications may occur after Pemetrexed administration. In this study, it was aimed to target the lung cancer site with magnetic nanoparticles. Therefore, pemetrexed loaded magnetic albumin nanoparticles were prepared. Albumin nanoparticles were synthesized by desolvation method using bovine serum albumin. During the preparation of the nanoparticle, genipin was used as cross-linker instead of toxic glutaraldehyde, which was used in many studies. BSA, genipin, magnetic nanoparticle, reaction time and drug quantity were optimized. Free pemetrexed and prepared drug system were compared by monitoring the release of the drug at different pHs. Characterization studies were performed by SEM, FTIR and zeta size analysis. The synthesized nanoparticle had a hydrodynamic size of 191.6 ± 41.57 nm and a PDI of 0.340. In addition, the zeta potential value was -19.2 ± 4.37. This negative zeta potential value aids in the uptake of the nanoparticle into the cell. After all optimization studies, the drug delivery system was applied to different lung cancer cell lines (A549-luc-C8 and CRL5807) to investigate efficacy. In vitro studies have shown that this drug delivery system, which can be directed to the tumor site by applying external magnetic field, has the potential for lung cancer treatment.