authors |
Pinto, RJB; Lameirinhas, NS; Guedes, G; da Silva, GRH; Oskoei, P; Spirk, S; Oliveira, H; Duarte, IF; Vilela, C; Freire, CSR |
nationality |
International |
journal |
NANOMATERIALS |
author keywords |
cellulose nanocrystals; chitosan; folic acid; fluorescein isothiocyanate; nanosystems; physical adsorption; cellular uptake; cellular exometabolomics; folate receptor-positive cancer cells |
keywords |
ACID; CHITOSAN; NANOCELLULOSE; FLUORESCEIN; DESIGN; INTERNALIZATION; NANOPARTICLES; CYTOTOXICITY; FILMS |
abstract |
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are elongated biobased nanostructures with unique characteristics that can be explored as nanosystems in cancer treatment. Herein, the synthesis, characterization, and cellular uptake on folate receptor (FR)-positive breast cancer cells of nanosystems based on CNCs and a chitosan (CS) derivative are investigated. The physical adsorption of the CS derivative, containing a targeting ligand (folic acid, FA) and an imaging agent (fluorescein isothiocyanate, FITC), on the surface of the CNCs was studied as an eco-friendly methodology to functionalize CNCs. The fluorescent CNCs/FA-CS-FITC nanosystems with a rod-like morphology showed good stability in simulated physiological and non-physiological conditions and non-cytotoxicity towards MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. These functionalized CNCs presented a concentration-dependent cellular internalization with a 5-fold increase in the fluorescence intensity for the nanosystem with the higher FA content. Furthermore, the exometabolic profile of the MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to the CNCs/FA-CS-FITC nanosystems disclosed a moderate impact on the cells' metabolic activity, limited to decreased choline uptake and increased acetate release, which implies an anti-proliferative effect. The overall results demonstrate that the CNCs/FA-CS-FITC nanosystems, prepared by an eco-friendly approach, have a high affinity towards FR-positive cancer cells and thus might be applied as nanocarriers with imaging properties for active targeted therapy. |
publisher |
MDPI |
isbn |
2079-4991 |
year published |
2021 |
volume |
11 |
issue |
8 |
digital object identifier (doi) |
10.3390/nano11082057 |
web of science category |
17 |
subject category |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Nanoscience & Nanotechnology; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied |
unique article identifier |
WOS:000689947100001
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ciceco authors
impact metrics
journal analysis (jcr 2019):
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journal impact factor |
4.324 |
5 year journal impact factor |
4.514 |
category normalized journal impact factor percentile |
65.762 |
dimensions (citation analysis):
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altmetrics (social interaction):
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