Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Amphiphilic Peptide and its Application in the Development of Niosomal Formulation as a Drug Delivery Carrier for Curcumin

Developing effective therapy for cancer using a natural product like curcumin (CR) is an active area of research. The efficacy of CR against different types of cancers is significantly impeded by its non-specificity, low aqueous solubility, and high metabolism. In this study, novel amphiphilic peptide (AMP) was synthesized and their potential to carry CR into cancer cells via niosomal vesicles was examined. The synthesized AMP was characterized using several techniques such as FAB-MS, HRFAB-MS, 1 H-, and 13 C-NMR spectroscopy, which was then used to produce niosomal vesicles. CR-loaded AMP niosomal vesicles (CR-AMP-Vesicles) were also characterized in terms of size, zeta potential, PDI, and surface morphology. CR-AMP-Vesicles exhibited a smaller size of about 387.70 nm with 77.32% CR encapsulation and a regulated drug release profile. The AMP and AMP-Vesicles are reported for the first time. Moreover, we are the first to develop AMP-CR-Vesicles and to report the activity of the developed AMP-CR-Vesicles against chronic myeloid leukemia cell lines. The anticancer activity of the formulation was evaluated against chronic myeloid leukemia cell lines which exhibited a promising response with the IC 50 of 25 µM. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of produced vesicles on human normal fibroblast 3T3 cells was studied and found to be non-cytotoxic. The overall results indicate that the developed novel CR-AMP-Vesicles are very effective and promising. The novel formulation has the potential for broader applications along with the fact that the developed niosomes have the potential to substantially reduce the cytotoxicity of bioactive compounds against normal cells while maintaining biological activity.