3.1. XRD analysis
X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the structure of nanoparticles. Figure 2 displays the XRD patterns of CoFe2O4 and Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (JCPDS No. 98-001-6669),18.39° 30.24°, 35.69°, 43.33» and 57.23» show that the 2 theta values of the nanoparticles decrease as the methionine enters the network cavities and increases the connection space, indicating that the methionine is incorporated into the network cavities and that the network space is expanded as the methionine is incorporated into the network. The typical diffraction peaks matched to the crystal planes (111), (022), (113), (004), (224), (115), and (044). The Debye-Scherrer equation (Eq. 4) indicated that the average size of nanoparticles was 23nm:
$$\text{D}=\frac{\text{K}{\lambda }}{{\beta }\text{cos}{\theta }} \left(4\right)$$
Where D signifies the crystallinity size, β is the complete width at half maximum, K is the shape factor, θ shows the Bragg angle corresponding to the peak and λ is X-ray wavelength.
3.2. Morphologic studies of Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles
FESEM micrographs of the synthesized Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles have been shown in Fig. 3. As observed in Fig. 3 (a) and (b), the spherical shapes with nearly uniform sizes of the Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles are exhibited from the SEM images in which the average size of the spheres is around 28–29 nm. Figure 3(c) and (d) show the TEM micrographs of Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with slight agglomeration which may be as a result of the nanoparticles' strong magnetic interactions.
3.3. Magnetic studies
The magnetic hysteresis loops of the prepared core/shell Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles and bare CoFe2O4 were measured at room temperature by SQUID in an external magnetic field ranging from -15 kOe to +15 kOe as depicted in Fig. 4. The magnetization curves of bare CoFe2O4 show that they have a negligible hysteresis loop due to its approximately superparamagnetic behavior. The saturation magnetization value of room temperature for the CoFe2O4 and Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles are 46 emu/g and 16.8 emu/ g, respectively, which value of Ms in bare CoFe2O4 is more than magnetization value after coating with Methionine in the sample. Ms reduction attributed to nonmagnetic Methionine shell around the magnetite nanoparticles.
3.4. TGA Analysis
As illustrated in Fig. 5, the presence of Methionine on the CoFe2O4 nanoparticles was further investigated using thermal analysis, which revealed TGA curves for bare CoFe2O4 and Methionine-coated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. The initial weight loss of bare CoFe2O4 from room temperature to 150°C is probably owing to the elimination of surface hydroxyls or physically adsorbed water, but the curve becomes practically constant at 800°C due to the structure's strong stability. This phenomenon was also seen during the fabrication of L-cysteine-coated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. In the second sample, which Methionine coated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles; the TGA curve shows that the weight loss of 13.83% is observed at 400°C which is related to thermal decomposition of surface-treated CoFe2O4 with additions of Methionine molecules. So weight loss of Methionine@CoFe2O4 has occurred in a range of 400°C was related to degradation of Methionine molecules.
3.5 FT‑IR Analysis
Figure 6 shows the FTIR spectra of CoFe2O4, Methionine coated CoFe2O4 before and after Letrozole loading. In the spectrum of the Methionine amino acid, as a result of the dipole character of their ions, their spectra are a combination of carboxylate salts and the first type amine. The two absorption bands at 1517 cm−1 and 1630 cm−1 are ascribed to the symmetric and asymmetric N ̶ H bending, respectively. Also symmetric and asymmetrical stretching COO ̶ band assigned at 1419 cm−1 and 1600 cm−1. Peaks of the 1232cm-1 - 1330 cm-1 region refer to the C ̶ O band. The absorption bands between 400 and 600 cm-1 in the spectra of CoFe2O4 correspond to the intrinsic vibrations of tetrahedral and octahedral metal-oxygen complexes, respectively, which are primarily determined by the Fe-O distances. The peaks of Methionine which is determined by the spot chain in the Spectrum were similar with peaks of Methionine@CoFe2O4 which clearly shows the presence of the Methionine on the surface of CoFe2O4. The absorption bands in Letrozole spectrum around 671 and 1007 cm−1 are caused by bending of ≡C–H and spectra around 1143 and 1262 cm−1 related to C ̶ O. The peak in region 1447 - 1500 cm−1 attributed to aromatic ring and peaks in the 1417cm−1, 1640 - 1670 cm−1 and 2240 cm−1 region refer to the C=C, C=N and C≡N stretching respectively. Also peaks at 3114 cm−1 attributed to CH sp2 hybridized stretching. However, the capacity of the loading drug can be attributed to the shell, which could hold Letrozole molecules. The C≡N band at 2240 cm−1 present in Methionine@CoFe2O4 appears after Letrozole loading, it suggests that the hydrogen bond has formed between the carboxylic group of Methionine and Letrozole molecules, also aromatic ring bands are shifted from 1447 cm−1 to lower 1361 cm−1 when bonding are formed between sure face of carrier and the Letrozole. On the other hand, the entire band which relates to Methionine present in the Methionine@CoFe2O4 almost diminishing after Letrozole loading which can be verified by the FTIR.
3.6 In vitro Loading capacity and release of Letrozole
To calculate the Letrozole loading capacity of the sample at 239 nm wavelength was used UV–Vis spectroscopy. To determine the loading capacity of Letrozole on the Methionine@CoFe2O4 with different initial Letrozole concentrations, the amount of Methionine@CoFe2O4 was transferred to 20 ml of different initial Letrozole concentrations. When the initial drug concentration is 0.08 mg/ml, the highest loading capacity of the Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticle is 0.025 mg/mg, indicating that 0.62 mg of drug is loaded into 1 mg of nanoparticle. The loading capacity determined in this work is highly dependent on the initial drug concentrations, as illustrated in Fig. 7.
Following that, Letrozole-loaded Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles are suspended in a PBS buffer media with various pH values corresponding to the simulated environment of tumors, namely pH (5) and pH (7.4), which corresponds to the physiological pH of the body at 37°C, for 72 hours. At both pHs, Fig. 8 depicts the cumulative drug release of Letrozole from Methionine@CoFe2O4. As can be seen, drug release under acid solution circumstances pH (5) is significantly more than under neutral solution conditions pH. (7.4). Additionally, this study discovered that the release of Letrozole from the carrier happens rapidly in the first 8 hours and then gradually slows down to 72 hours. The cause for the quick dissolution of Letrozole on the surface of Methionine @CoFe2O4 nanoparticles is unknown. Following that, the delayed release of Letrozole appears to be caused by physical and chemical interactions between Letrozole and Methionine@CoFe2O4. As stated in the literature, the model delivery system is pH sensitive, which is critical for drug delivery because at neutral pH (7.4), the modest release rate of the medication alleviates anti-cancer drug side effects on normal cells and drug loss through blood transportation. While acidic conditions pH (5) are associated with intracellular lysosomes, endosomes, or malignant tissues, which may facilitate the active release of anticancer drugs [26]. The release behavior of letrozole-loaded Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles was determined in this study using mathematical models. Each model with a higher linear regression coefficient (closer to 1) represents the optimum sample release's kinetic model. Table 1 shows the coefficient of determination (R2) for each model at various pH values (5 and 7.4). As can be seen, the pH values released correspond to the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The obtained n values (n=0.45) in the Korsmeyer-Peppas model for these two settings show that letrozole molecules are released from Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles via the Fickian diffusion mechanism.
Table 1
The release kinetic models and the parameters obtained for Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles.
Release Model
|
Equation
|
R2
|
pH 5
|
pH 7.4
|
Zero-Order
|
Ct=C0+K0t
|
R2=0.8984
|
R2=0.7340
|
Korsmeyer-Peppas
|
Mt/M=Ktn
|
R2=0.9904
n=0.4365
|
R2=0.8875
n=0.3969
|
First-Order
|
LogC=LogC0+Kt/2.303
|
R2=0.9528
|
R2=0.7574
|
Higuchi
|
Q=KH\(\surd t\)
|
R2=0.9764
|
R2=0.8746
|
3.7 In vitro Cytotoxicity Test
As is well known, the cytotoxicity of magnetic nanoparticles is dependent on several parameters, including degree of aggregation, surface area, hydrophobicity, surface coating, and particle size [23]. As demonstrated in cytotoxicity experiments using the MTT test on human breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) and normal cells (MCF10A). For 24, 48, and 72 hours, cells were treated with free letrozole, Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles, and letrozole loaded on Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles at various doses (0–40 g/ml). The results indicated that Methionine@CoFe2O4 is almost as toxic to cancer cells as free letrozole, indicating that the letrozole-Methionine@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles are more readily internalized via the receptor-mediated endocytosis mechanism, whereas free letrozole is transported into cells via a passive diffusion mechanism [24]. Additionally, it was revealed that letrozole-methionine @CoFe2O4 was more cytotoxic to MCF-7 cells than to MDA-MB-231 cells. Additionally, normal MCF10A cells were treated with Methionine @CoFe2O4 and letrozole-Methionine@CoFe2O4 at the same doses. The results demonstrated that Methionine@CoFe2O4 and letrozole-Methionine@CoFe2O4 exhibited no detectable toxicity on MCF10A cells after 72 hours of treatment, indicating that they are biocompatible enough to be used as a drug delivery system. This finding indicated that loading the drug on a carrier boosted the growth inhibitory effect on cancer cells synergistically, indicating the therapeutic potential of Methionine@CoFe2O4. The viability of MCF-7 cells is shown in Fig. 9, while that of MDA-MB-231 cells is presented in Fig. 10. Table 2 summarizes the IC50 values for the free drug and Letrozole loaded on Methionine@CoFe2O4 formulations against MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells.
Table 2
IC50 values of Letrozole and Letrozole-Methionine@CoFe2O4 after 24, 48 h and 72 h in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells.
Cell lines
|
Incubation time
|
IC50 (\(\mu g/\)ml −1 Letrozole)
|
Free Letrozole
|
Letrozole loaded on Methionine@CoFe2O4
|
MCF-7
|
24h
48h
72h
|
63.52\(\pm\)1.91
42.36\(\pm\)1.33
33.90\(\pm\)1.34
|
48.43\(\pm\)1.75
26.63\(\pm\)1.44
15.10\(\pm\)0.81
|
MDA-MB-231
|
24h
48h
72h
|
81.10\(\pm\)1.52
61.08\(\pm\)0.92
44.14\(\pm\)0.80
|
69.04\(\pm\)0.93
38.32\(\pm\)1.50
17.47\(\pm\)0.59
|