Effectiveness of curcumin for anticancer activity by surface functionalized nickel and manganese ferrites

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are essential for targeted drug delivery due to moderate magnetisation and high coercivity. In the present study, Nickel ferrite (NF) and manganese ferrite (MF) were synthesised and characterised by X-rays diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. These nanoparticles (NPs) were loaded with curcumin drug after surface functionalization with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and silica. Drug-loaded samples were tested for antioxidant and anticancer activities. MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was used to test anticancer activity on the 4 T-1 cancer line due to its tumorigenic nature. The outcomes of this research suggested that surface functionalised drug-loaded NPs showed decreased cell viability as compared to bare particles.