Anti-proliferative effect of chitosan nanoparticles (extracted from crayfish Procambarus clarkii, Crustacea: Cambaridae) against MDA-MB-231 and SK-BR-3 human breast cancer cell lines.

Actually, the most common cancer in women is the breast cancer which is the second most widespread cancer overall. In 2018, there were over two million new cases of women breast cancer. Particularly, we tried to extract chitosan from crayfish Procambarus clarkii, Crustacea: Cambaridae, by N-deacetylation of chitin. The chemical structure of chitosan was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Also DDA was calculated from FT-IR and ultraviolet spectrophotometry data. Chitosan nanoparticles were prepared using a ball-milling technique. The as-prepared chitosan nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering as well as zeta potential. The cytotoxicity of chitosan and its nanoparticles (50 and 100 μg/mL) against human breast cancer (SK BR3 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines) was evaluated. MTT assay asserts the significant inhibitory action of both chitosan and its nanoparticles on the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in vitro. Chitosan nanoparticles had more anti-proliferative effects on MDA-MB-231 and SK-BR-3 cell lines than its corresponding chitosan. Although, chitosan nanoparticles, that has higher DDA, had a higher cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and SK-BR-3 cell lines in vitro. Eventually, chitosan and its nanoparticles can be considered as a promising natural compounds in human breast cancer treatment.