Synthesize of FA@PEG@Fe3O4 Nanoparticles for Targeting Lung Cancer Cells via Down-regulated FLOR1 Gene Expression

Lung cancer has the second highest incidence and mortality rates among cancers. There is no definitive cure for it. Researchers have considered using iron oxide nanoparticles to treat various types of cancer. This is due to their drug-delivery ability. Some chemical compounds can also functionalize them. In this study, we synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles by co-precipitating FeCl2 and FeCl3 salts. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) with folic acid activated them. The final compound was named FA@PEG@Fe3O4. We used FT-IR, VSM, ZETA, and TGA tests to confirm them. Cell viability, apoptosis, and FOLR1 gene expression tests were performed. Data analysis was performed in GraphPad Prism 5 software using the unpaired t-test and accepted a significant value with p<0.05 error. The lowest effective concentration of FA@PEG@Fe3O4 on cancer cells (A549) was 125 μg/ml, but it was for Fe3O4 1000 μg/ml. On normal cells (MRC5), both substances were effective at 1000 μg/ml. The results of Annexin V showed that the synthesized compound can induce apoptosis in 31% of cancer cells. The caspase 3 test results confirmed that FA@PEG@Fe3O4 was about 1.2 times more effective in cancer cells than the untreated cells. The results of qRTPCR for expression of the FOLR1 gene in treated cells were 17% lower than in control cells. Conclusively, this study showed that gold nanoparticles can induce apoptosis in A549 cells by reducing the expression of the FOLR1 gene and inhibiting it.