Synthesis, characterization and in vitro assessment of colloidal gold nanoparticles of Gemcitabine with natural polysaccharides for treatment of breast cancer

Targeted drug delivery plays an essential role in the treatment of breast cancer because it provides therapeutic responses with low side effects for an extended period. In the present study, gemcitabine hydrochloride (GEM)-loaded colloidal gold nanoparticles have been successfully developed using Gum acacia (GA), (GEM-GA-AuNPs) as a polysaccharides based system. The gold nanoparticles were optimized using concentration of GA from (0.25%–3% w/v) containing 10 mM of Gold (III) chloride trihydrate (HAuCl4·3H2O) with optimum temperature of 80 ± 1 °C and reaction time of 30 min. The ruby-red (1% w/v) GA-AuNP was obtained and further characterized by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Selected area (electron) diffraction (SAED), Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The blank GA -AuNPs (1% w/v) demonstrated the hydrodynamic diameter of 78.15 ± 2.12 nm with a zeta potential of -23.6 ± 1.21 mV. In cytotoxicity studies, compared with free GEM, GEM-GA -AuNPs displayed more cytotoxicity in human breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231) cell line. In conclusion, this study provided an insight to synthesize GEM-GA -AuNPs with approved polymer and provide a versatile platform for delivery carriers for the treatment of breast cancer.