Chitosan nanoparticles co-delivering curcumin and methotrexate synergistically induce p53/caspase-9-mediated apoptosis in metastatic breast cancer and effectively inhibit tumor growth in vitro and in vivo

Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 2026 Open access

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Authors: Hamed Dadashi, Milad Mashinchian, Alireza Karimian-Shaddel, Amir Reza Nazemiyeh, Parniya Kehtari, Niloufar Ahdeno, M Jaymand, Morteza Eskandani, Somayeh Vandghanooni
DOI: 10.1016/j.ceja.2026.101109
Cited by: 1
References: 42

Abstract

• pH-sensitive chitosan NPs co-deliver curcumin/MTX with >80% encapsulation efficiency. • Cur-/MTX-Cs NPs induce 62.92% apoptosis via P53/caspase-9 in 4T1 breast cancer. • NPs reduce 4T1 cell migration by 56.7% and angiogenesis by 68.9% in vitro. • Cur-/MTX-Cs NPs achieve 91.12% tumor growth inhibition in vivo, outperforming free drugs. • Biocompatible NPs show minimal systemic toxicity in BALB/c mice. Nanotechnology offers innovative solutions to enhance cancer treatment efficacy through passively- or actively-targeted drug delivery systems. This study developed curcumin (Cur)- and methotrexate (MTX)-loaded chitosan (Cs) nanoparticles (NPs) using ionic gelation to treat 4T1 breast cancer cells, a highly metastatic model. The NPs, characterized by sizes

Fields of Study & Subjects

Curcumin's Biomedical Applications Plant-Derived Bioactive Compounds Cell death mechanisms and regulation

Publication details

Journal / source
Chemical Engineering Journal Advances
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
26
Pages
101109–101109
Publication date
24 February 2026
Language
EN