Sodium alginate functionalized biocompatible selenium nanocarriers loaded trans-resveratrol for mitochondrial targeted HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma inhibition study

Aims To investigate the use of sodium alginate (SA) for functionalization of selenium nanoparticles (SA@Se NPs) in developing biocompatible nanocarrier to enhance stability, mitochondrial targeting and anticancer efficacy of trans-resveratrol (TRV).Methods SA@Se NPs were synthesized by chemical reduction method and characterized to evaluate their crystalline structure by X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size and surface charge. Synthesized SA@Se NPs were evaluated for cumulative TRV release. Cytotoxicity of TRV-SA@Se was assessed against HepG2 and HEK-293T cells by WST-8 assay. Superoxide anion detecton by staining with MitoSOX and calorimmetrically caspases-9/3 activities were evaluated in HepG2 cells.Results SA@Se NPs demonstrated the spherical morphology with an average particle size of 23 nm having surface charge −33.65 ± 1.94 mV which slightly neutralized to −27.43 ± 2.11 mV by TRV encapsulation. SA@Se NPs exhibited 64.55 ± 4.5% encapsulation efficiency for TRV and showed cumulative release 74.38 ± 3.75% at pH 5.0 over 24 h. TRV-SA@Se NPs exhibited anticancer activity against HepG2 cells having IC50 of 35 µg/mL while maintained higher viability against normal cells. TRV-SA@Se NPs significantly stimulated intercellular ROS and mitochondrial superoxide level with caspases-9/3 activities.Conclusion In vitro, SA@Se NPs demonstrated pH-responsive TRV release and increase mitochondrial targeted anticancer activity against HepG2 cells.