Quercetin loaded and alginate sealed β-Glucan particles-based drug delivery system against DU145 a prostate cancer cell line: Integrating network pharmacology, molecular docking and in vitro studies

Abstract Background Prostate cancer remains a challenge in healthcare, being the second most common male cancer demanding innovative therapeutic approaches and treatment techniques. This study integrates in silico and in vitro methods for the investigation of the potential anticancer effects of quercetin-loaded and alginate-sealed β-Glucan particles derived from mushroom Agaricus bisporus and yeast against the DU145 cell line. Methods Prostate cancer-related genes were identified from DisGeNET and GeneCards databases, followed by target prioritization using Swiss Target Prediction software. Venny 2.1 was used for the determination of common targets between β-Glucan, Quercetin, and prostate cancer and PPI network was constructed using STRING database. CB dock online server was used for molecular docking and DU145, RAW264.7 cell lines were used for the determination of cytotoxicity against prostate cancer and healthy cells. Results Molecular docking revealed that quercetin has superior binding affinity compared to β-Glucan with selected prostate cancer-related targets. In vitro evaluation using MTT assays demonstrated the cytotoxic effects of quercetin-loaded and alginate-sealed particles against DU145 prostate cancer cells. Apoptosis induction, ROS generation, and lysosomal pH alterations underscore the potential of quercetin-loaded and alginate-sealed β-Glucan particles as promising therapeutic agents for prostate cancer. Conclusions Our study showed systematic analyses of the effect of hollow β-Glucan particles, Quercetin, and Quercetin alginate sealed particles against DU145 cells and found that formulation exhibits superior anticancer activity against prostate cancer cell line. Quercetin-loaded alginate-sealed particles showed very little cytotoxicity against healthy cell line RAW264.7. Future studies focusing on preclinical validation, pharmacokinetic profiling, and clinical trials to assess translational potential and optimize therapeutic strategies can help get impactful findings.