Green synthesis of chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles for drug delivery of oxaliplatin and irinotecan against colorectal cancer cells

Recently, the green synthesizing methods of nanoparticles found their place in the center of attention. In this regard. the synthesis of useful nanoparticles such as the magnetic types, as well as the cases of Chia seeds that can form natural mucilage and function as a capping agent, are recognized of great importance. In this work, superparamagnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were prepared by using the water extract of chia seeds for the first time, which was then coated with chitosan (CS), Fe3O4@CS core–shell, and finally, exerted for the drug delivery of oxaliplatin (OXA), and irinotecan (IRI) that were labeled as Fe3O4–OXA@CS core–shell and Fe3O4–IRI@CS core–shell, respectively. The nanoparticles were characterized through the means of XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis, TEM, FESEM, DLS, zeta potential, and VSM. The results of XRD analyses confirmed the successful synthesis of superparamagnetic nanoparticles. The observed crystallity, solid-phase, and hydrodynamic sizes were indicative of particle agglomeration in the solid phase, while in comparison to the crystallite sizes and particle diameters were increased up to more than 3-folds. The occurrence of agglomeration was more apparent in the case of Fe3O4–OXA@CS core–shell. Moreover, the cytotoxicities of nano-drugs were investigated against CT-26 cancer cells by the application of MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The IC50 values of Fe3O4@CS core–shell, Fe3O4–OXA@CS core–shell, and Fe3O4–IRI@CS core–shell were reported to be 246.6, 79.6, and 61.1 ppm, respectively. The cytotoxicities of drug-loaded nanoparticles were exceedingly increased when being compared to the case of Fe3O4@CS core–shell.