Synergistic delivery of 5-fluorouracil and curcumin using human serum albumin-coated iron oxide nanoparticles by folic acid targeting

Human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in plasma with the ability to bind to a variety of drug molecules. Magnetic nanoparticles are being extensively used in drug delivery due to its intrinsic magnetic properties. In this work, we have synthesized human serum albumin-coated citrate-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles by CDI coupling. Furthermore, folic acid was decorated on human serum albumin by EDC and NHS coupling to confer targetability. Two cytotoxic drugs 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and curcumin were co-delivered. Wherein, the former is an anticancer agent and latter is a drug resistance depressor of former. The nanoparticles showed good aqueous dispersibility with a zeta potential of − 49.1 mV and magnetic core size in the range of 10–15 nm, thus exhibiting good magnetic property with magnetic saturation of 33.59 emu/g. Controlled drug release behavior was noticed in both drugs with faster release profile of 5FU. Nanoparticles also showed good cytotoxicity with lower IC(50) values in the presence of magnetic field. The contrasting difference was noticed in folic acid-decorated and non-decorated composites, similarly in the presence of magnetic field where cell uptake was enhanced.