title: Developing and Evaluating In Vitro Effect of Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Conjugated Curcumin on Human Cancer Cell Lines.
abstract: Curcumin has been shown to possess strong cytotoxic effect against various cancer cell lines. However, curcumin has not applied as a drug for treatment of cancer yet due to low solubility in water and low bioavailability. The aims of this study were to prepare a new polyethylene glycol (PEG) conjugated curcumin and to evaluate its antitumor activity in vitro.
  
  
  
  PEG-CUR was prepared by the reaction between curcumin and PEG. PEG-CUR which was characterized by SEM, TEM, FTIR, DSC and 1H NMR analysis. The physicochemical parameters of PEG-CUR such as zeta potential, size distribution, solubility and percentage of curcumin were also investigated.
  
  
  
  Our results showed that the percentage of curcumin in PEG-CUR was 13.26 ± 1.25 %. PEG-CUR has nanosize values of 96.3 nm and the zeta potential values of - 48.4 mV. The PEG-CUR showed significantly increasing curcumin's solubility in water and another medium such as in 0,1 N HCl, phosphate buffer pH 4.5 and pH 6.8 solution and n-octanol. Our data also have shown cytotoxicity effect of PEG-CUR was much greater than curcumin-free in two different HepG2 and HCT116 cancer cell lines.
  
  
  
  It could be concluded from our results that the PEG-CUR may be a potential candidate for cancer treatment. Further studies are needed to evaluate the antitumor efficacy of PEG-CUR in vivo.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Office 506, Building Y1, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, HaNoi, Vietnam. tungasia82@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Bui Thanh
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.forename: Nguyen Thanh
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Hai
authors.forename: Phan Ke
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003474:Curcumin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D012995:Solubility; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D014867:Water; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D003474:Curcumin