Synthesis and Characterization of pH-Responsive Sodium Alginate/Zein/γ-Alumina Nanocarriers for Targeted Curcumin Delivery in Lung Cancer

A feasible method to addressing some of the challenges that are associated with the treatment of lung cancer is the utilization of stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems that make use of the anticancer agent curcumin. As part of this research, pH-responsive nanocarriers were developed by employing sodium alginate (SA), zein and [Formula: see text]-alumina ([Formula: see text]-Al 2 O[Formula: see text] as curcumin nanocarriers. These nanocarriers were created by a W/O/W double emulsion technique. The purpose of this study was to facilitate the delivery of curcumin to lung cancer cells in a targeted manner. The FTIR and XRD techniques were utilized in order to characterize the crystalline structure and the physical interactions, respectively. DLS analysis and FE-SEM imaging, respectively, verified that the dimensions of drug-loaded nanocomposites measured 218.6 nm. These nanocomposites exhibited a monodisperse particle distribution and a rod-like shape according to the findings of the investigation. An ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy analysis was performed in order to investigate the pH sensitivity of the nanocarrier samples. The results obtained from the UV–Vis spectroscopy reveal that the absorption intensities are higher in the presence of acidic tumor settings (pH 5.4) in comparison to the physiological pH (7.4). In comparison to the previously recorded delivery systems, the double emulsion strategy, which utilized [Formula: see text]-alumina, demonstrated a significant improvement in terms of drug loading and entrapment efficiency. After that, MTT and flow cytometry tests were utilized in order to assess cytotoxicity and cellular death simultaneously. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the SA/zein/ [Formula: see text]-Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite has great potential as a pH-responsive drug delivery approach for the treatment of lung cancer.