Curcumin conjugated dextran coated Fe3O4 Nanoparticles: Cytotoxic effect on lung cancer cell line A549

• Curcumin loaded surface coated Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles grafted with dextran. • The impacts of the surface coating were correlated with the colloidal property. • High affinity of carboxyl group with positive iron surface confirms dextran layer. • No significant change in magnetization even after dextran coating. • Cytotoxicity tests shows significant cytotoxic effect on A549 cancer cells. Surface coating of Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNPs) plays a key role in the prohibition of agglomeration, improved colloidal stability, and biocompatibility. This research aims to develop and evaluate curcumin-conjugated dextran-coated MNPs for the cytotoxic potential of lung cancer cell A549. Fe 3 O 4 NPs were prepared by a simple co-precipitation method followed by surface coating with dextran. FT-IR, micro Raman, and powder XRD results confirm that functionalization does not alter the crystallinity of Fe 3 O 4 and the particle size varied from ∼ 147–216 nm. The surface morphology of the conjugate shows that the drug-polymer embedded homogeneously over the surface. The in vitro release of the drug shows ∼ 77.80 ± 5.4 % and ∼ 5.15 ± 3.3 % from Cur-Dex-Fe 3 O 4 NPs and curcumin suspension over 24 h. The IC 50 value of 22.5 μg/mL with significant changes in the chromatin of cells was observed in the MTT assay and Hoechst 33,528 staining. The developed Cur-Dex-Fe 3 O 4 NPs can effective against the A549 lung cancer cell line.