Quercetin-loaded Liposomes Effectively Induced Apoptosis and Decreased the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Expression in Colorectal Cancer Cells: An In Vitro Study

Background: Quercetin is a flavonoid having anti-cancer properties; however, it has low stability, insufficient bioavailability, and poor solubility. This study aimed to load quercetin on nanoliposomes to enhance its efficiency against SW48 colorectal cancer cells. The cytotoxicity of free-quercetin and quercetin-loaded nanoliposomes on the expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGER) gene was investigated. Methods: This present in vitro study was conducted at Yasuj University of Medical Sciences (Yasuj, Iran) in 2021. In this in vitro study, the lipid thin-film hydration method was used to synthesize quercetin-loaded liposomes. Additionally, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations were used to characterize nanomaterials. Following that, MTT, flow cytometry, and real-time PCR were used to investigate the cytotoxicity of quercetin-loaded liposomes on the colorectal cancer cells SW48 cell line, the incidence of apoptosis, and the expression of the EGFR gene in these cells. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS (version 26.0), and the graphs were created with the GraphPad Prism version 8.4.3. P