Secondary metabolite‐entrapped, anti‐GPA33 targeted poly‐dopamine nanoparticles and their effectiveness in cancer treatment.

In this study, the development of polydopamine nanoparticle (p‐Dop NP) as a drug carrier system for saponin (Sap) and its use in in vitro targeted cancer therapy was investigated. The average diameter of p‐Dop NP was found as 130 nm with a zeta potential of −18 mV and demonstrated high stability even after 6 weeks. The Sap release and cytotoxicity studies were carried out to reveal the effectiveness of the proposed carrier system. The offered approach demonstrated a high loading capacity of Sap as 81% with a sustainable and controlled release of 75%. To prevent the interaction of the anti‐cancer Sap with other healthy tissue and to enhance the targeting of DLD‐1 cells, anti‐GPA33 was immobilized onto the nanoparticle surface via carbodiimide strategy. The anti‐GPA33 and Sap loaded p‐Dop NPs demonstrated enhanced toxicity and cellular uptake compared to untargeted Sap loaded NPs as expected. The offered carrier system revealed simple and efficient targeted cancer therapy ability in vitro and may provide new ideas for the design of targeted delivery systems in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]