A biocompatible polymeric nanocarrier based on chitosan and PAMAM dendrimer for efficient dual drug delivery against leukemia cells

Leukemia treatment remains a big challenge correlated with human health. Therefore, a novel nanocarrier based on chitosan (CS)-polyamidoamine (PAMAM) polymers was developed for co-delivery of silver (Ag) nanoparticles and curcumin (Cur) against NALM6 leukemia cells. The successful fabrication, 70–110 nm diameter, unique distribution, thermal stability of 200–300 ℃, and high drug loading (62.93% for Ag and 12.34% for Cur) were confirmed for the nanocarrier. The CS-Ag-Cur-PAMAM nanocarrier indicated controlled drug release (21% for Ag and 18% for Cur), and nearly 2- to 4-fold faster release at acidic pHs (6.0 and 5.0), which verified the pH-sensitive release manner of the nanocarrier. MTT assay demonstrated 19.3% cell viability at 600 nM concentration and an IC 50 of 215 nM after 24 h of incubation with CS-Ag-Cur-PAMAM. The expression of Caspase9 and Bax apoptotic genes was enhanced to 6.9-fold and 5.7-fold after incubation with the nanocarrier, while the Bcl2 antiapoptotic gene exhibited a reduction of about 10-fold. The hemocompatibility assays indicated that pure Cur had a higher impact on the reduction of whole blood count parameters.