Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer, highlighting the need for better treatments. It is basically detected only in advanced stages.
Encapsulating curcumin in pH-sensitive ZIF-8 nanoparticles enhances stability and enables targeted delivery with release in the tumor microenvironment. This project aims to synthesize Cur@ZIF-8 NPs and explore their synergistic effect on ovarian cancer cell line (A2780).
Cur@ZIF-8 NPs were synthesized by mixing Zn(NO3)2·6H2O in water with 2-methyl imidazole and curcumin in methanol, followed by stirring, centrifugation, washing, and drying. The following figure depicts the FESEM images of highly uniform structure of synthesized ZIF-8 with and without curcumin.
Cur@ZIF-8 NPs exhibited high drug loading, efficient encapsulation, and pH-responsive release, with more curcumin release at pH 5.5, supporting tumor-specific delivery (demonstrated hereafter).
Cytotoxicity tests confirmed a synergistic effect, as Cur@ZIF-8 NPs enhanced A2780 cancer cell lethality compared to individual curcumin or ZIF-8 (as shown below).
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