Doxorubicin is widely used anticancer drug; however, use of doxorubicin is limited. Under externally applied magnetic field, magnetic agents can help to transport drug directly to tumor. Folate receptor is overexpressed in ovarian carcinomas. In this study, we aimed to develop magnetically responsive and folate receptor-targeted biomimetic drug delivery system for ovarian cancer therapy. Doxorubicin-loaded and glucose/gluconic acid-coated magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and erythrocyte membrane vesicles were used for coating of nanoparticles. Folate ligand was anchored to surface so as to target receptor. Hydrodynamic size of nanocarrier was found as 91.2 ± 20.8 nm. The results showed that delivery system has controlled drug release profile and biocompatible features. In folate-free medium, folate receptor-targeted nanocarrier showed 10.33-fold lower IC values for A2780 cells and 3.93-fold lower for OVCAR3 cells compared to non-targeted nanoparticles and demonstrated more cytotoxicity against ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, magnetically and folate receptor-targeted doxorubicin delivery system was significantly more effective for therapy of xenografted nude mice than free doxorubicin based on tumor shrinkages and biochemical parameters. In conclusion, it can be suggested that folate ligand-attached and biomimetically designed magnetic drug delivery system have advantages and potential for targeted ovarian cancer therapy.

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In this work, doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded magnetic albumin nanospheres were prepared using desolvation method in order to develop magnetically responsive nanocarrier system. Nanoparticles were characterized with zetasizer, SEM, AFM, XRD and magnetometer. In vitro DOX release was also investigated. It was found that nanoparticles had spherical shape with narrow size distributions and had magnetic responsiveness. In addition, slower drug release was observed with nanoparticulate system compared with free DOX. Moreover, the release rate should accelerate at target sites (cancer cells or tissue) where proteolytic enzymes are more abundant as known; therefore, magnetic albumin nanospheres can be effective potential DOX carrier with targeting ability.

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were coated with gelatin type B by means of the two-step desolvation method. Drug loading by adsorption was studied under various conditions such as different temperature, contact time, pH, and initial gemcitabine concentration. Further, Langmuir isotherm curves were constracted and constants were calculated. According to the Langmuir isotherm, the Gibbs free energy of the adsorption process at 25°C was - 4.74 kJ/mol. On the other hand, this value at 37°C was - 7.86 kJ/mol. In vitro drug release was performed at pH levels of 5 and 7.4, with gemcitabine-loaded magnetic gelatin nanoparticles and free gemcitabine, and both the results were subsequently compared.