Enhancement of phototoxicity of curcumin in human oral cancer cells using silica nanoparticles as delivery vehicle.

We report results on the use of organically modified silica nanoparticles (SiNp) as a vehicle for the delivery of curcumin in human oral cancer cells for improvement of uptake and phototoxicity. Nanoformulated drug (curcumin-SiNp complex) was prepared by postloading curcumin in SiNp, and the complex was soluble in aqueous solution. Cellular uptake studied by fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy showed that curcumin accumulation was higher when cells were incubated with curcumin-SiNp complex as against free curcumin. Studies carried out on incubation time-dependent cytotoxicity, inhibition of NF-κB activity, suppression of NF-κB-regulated proteins involved in invasion (MMP-9), angiogenesis (VEGF), and inflammation (TNF-α) showed that curcumin-SiNp leads to significant improvement over free curcumin in dark as well as on exposure to light.