Folate Conjugated Albumin Nanoparticles of Polyphenolic Drug: Formulation, Optimization, and Molecular Docking Studies

To formulate folate conjugated bovine serum albumin nanoparticles of rutin (Rutin-BSA-FA), a modified desolvation crosslinking method is employed to manufacture the folate conjugated bovine serum albumin nanoparticles and optimization of nanoparticles was accomplished employing 32 full factorial design. Rutin BSA-FA nanoparticles were effectively synthesized and tested for their morphological qualities. The study demonstrated that selected independent variables X1 protein (mg) and X2 alcohol (mL) have significant effects on the dependent variables particle size (Y1 [nm]) and entrapment efficiency (EE; Y2 [%]) with p-values of less than 0.05. As per the desirability the composition of optimum batch of nanoparticles (NPs) discovered to be 40 mg protein and 30 mL of alcohol; predicted with values of the responses as 229 nm particle size and 88.50% EE, which is comparable with the actual values. Moreover, scanning electron micrograph (SEM) examination validated the spherical structure of the NPs, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope (TEM) confirmed the conjugation of the drug with albumin and folate. Molecular docking study revealed the formed conjugate has better binding affinity to cancer cells with lowest binding energy of −15.0 kcal/mol. The in vitro drug release study demonstrated controlled drug delivery over 30 hours, following zero-order kinetics, confirming the efficiency of the developed nanoparticles.