Curcumin has many therapeutic applications including good broad spectrum anticancer potential, but its low aqueous solubility and bioavailability limits its application in cancer therapies. The present work aims to explore a pH-responsive drug delivery system of curcumin functionalized by PEG-Cyclodextrin based on zinc ferrite core as magnetic probe for targeting on tumors. The anticancer drug curcumin was loaded successfully into PEGCyclodextrin functionalized zinc ferrite core nanoparticles using simple wet chemical co-precipitation technique. The formation of as synthesized core shell nanocomposites was confirmed by UV-VIS, XRD spectra and TEM analysis. This nanocomposite drug delivery system shown spherical shape containing cubic spinal zinc ferrite core with mean particle diameter of 63 nm. and exhibited ability for escaping rapid renal excretion as well as targeting on tumor sites. The curcumin was released from these nanocomposites more rapidly at acidic pH 4.8 that of gastric and tumor fluid condition than at pH 7.4, which enabled required characteristic for tumor targeted drug delivery. These nanocomposites exhibited good anti inflammatory activity compared with diclofenac on the basis of heamolysis test. These pH-responsive drug delivery system shown improved anticancer potential and bioavailability than free curcumin on human cervical cancer HeLa cell line on the basis of MTT assay. These findings proved remarkably targeted and biocompatible drug delivery of curcumin in intracellular compartments of tumors causing apoptosis. These results were shown the most prominent wide applications of these pH-responsive nanocomposites to cancer therapy and as nanobiomedicine .
