Synergistic anticancer activity of gossypetin loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles against colorectal cancer

Gossypetin, a flavonoid present in a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs, exhibits a wide range of pharmacological effects. Nevertheless, its application in cancer therapy is limited due to its low bioavailability at the tumor site because of its poor solubility in water and slow dissolution rate. To improve the therapeutic efficacy of GTIN, emergent research is looking into using nanocarriers. Silk fibroin, from the Bombyx mori silkworm, is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer with excellent mechanical properties and an amphiphilic chemistry that make it a promising candidate as a controlled release drug system. The present study is aimed to synthesize gossypetin-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles by desolvation method. The GTIN-SFNPs were characterized by dynamic light scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermo-gravimetric analysis. The GTIN-SFNPs also exhibited antioxidant, antibacterial and antibiofilm activity. Furthermore, the GTIN-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles have shown anticancer activity against HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells at a concentration of 8μg/mL. In addition, fluorescence-based staining methods was confirmed an inquest in the pattern of cell death, inferring late apoptotic bodies, live/dead detection and trypan blue exclusion assay. Western blotting analysis was used to confirm the down regulation of Bcl-2 gene by GTIN-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles.