Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
This work demonstrates enhanced drug delivery efficiency in cancer cells using curcumin-based nanocarriers, highlighting improved therapeutic potential.
Conventional chemotherapy for cancer treatment often suffers from limitations such as non-specificity, multidrug resistance (MDR), poor drug circulation, and rapid metabolism. Designing a nanocarrier system with a targeting ability may aid in efficiently delivering chemotherapeutic agents with high specificity. This work deals with synthesis of a biotin-conjugated nanomicellar carrier derived from curcumin bearing pH-, enzyme-, and redox-responsive linkages. It is preliminarily characterized using FTIR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR, and the size and morphology are studied using TEM and DLS measurements. The synthesized amphiphilic polymer self-assembles into spherical micelles having an average diameter of 80 nm. It exhibits a drug loading efficiency (DLE) of 51% and stimuli-triggered drug release in response to variation in pH, enzyme, and glutathione concentration. It shows a complete and sustained drug release profile in vitro under a simulated tumor microenvironment (TME). Encapsulation enhances potency, lowering the IC₅₀ to 49.5 μg/mL (MCF-7) and 46.3 μg/mL (HepG2) versus 91.82 and 76.3 μg/mL for the free drug with results further supported by in vivo hepatocarcinoma mouse models.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Kikani et al. (2026) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: