title: Folate-Targeted Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs) Enhance (Letrozol) Efficacy in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells
abstract: Objective: Targeted-drug-delivery based lipid nanoparticles has emerged as a new and effective approach in cancer
  chemotherapy. Here, we investigated the ability of folate-modified nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to enhance
  letrozol (LTZ) efficacy in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Methods: New formulations were evaluated regarding to particle
  size and scanning electron microscope (SEM) features. Anti-proliferative effects of LTZ loaded nanoparticles were
  examined by MTT assay. To understand molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and cell cycle progression, flow cytometric
  assays were applied. Results: Optimum size of nanoparticles was obtained in mean average of 98 ± 7 nm with a poly
  dispersity index (PDI) of 0.165. The IC50 value was achieved for LTZ was 2.2 ± 0.2 μM. Folate-NLC-LTZ increased
  the percentage of apoptotic cells from 24.6% to 42.2% compared LTZ alone (p<0.05). Furthermore, LTZ loaded folate
  targeted NLCs caused marked accumulation of cells in the subG1 phase. Conclusion: Taken together, our results
  concluded that folate targeted LTZ can be considered as potential delivery system which may overcome limitations of
  clinical application of LTZ and improve drug efficacy in tumor tissue.
authors.affiliation: Drug Applied Research Center, and Department of Medical Biotechnology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Email: hamishehkar.hamed@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sabzichi
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mohammadian
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yari Khosroushahi
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bazzaz
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamishehkar
keywords: Apoptosis; Folate; Nano structured lipid carriers; LTZ- LTZ