*Article* **In Vitro Interaction of Doxorubicin-Loaded Silk Sericin Nanocarriers with MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells Leads to DNA Damage**

**Ionut,-Cristian Radu 1, Cătălin Zaharia <sup>1</sup> , Ariana Hudit,ă <sup>2</sup> , Eugenia Tanasă 3, Octav Ginghină 4,5, Minodora Marin 1, Bianca Gălăt,eanu 2,\* and Marieta Costache <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** In this paper, *Bombyx mori* silk sericin nanocarriers with a very low size range were obtained by nanoprecipitation. Sericin nanoparticles were loaded with doxorubicin, and they were considered a promising tool for breast cancer therapy. The chemistry, structure, morphology, and size distribution of nanocarriers were investigated by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR–ATR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Morphological investigation and DLS showed the formation of sericin nanoparticles in the 25–40 nm range. FTIR chemical characterization showed specific interactions of protein–doxorubicin–enzymes with a high influence on the drug delivery process and release behavior. The biological investigation via breast cancer cell line revealed a high activity of nanocarriers in cancer cells by inducing significant DNA damage.

**Keywords:** silk sericin; nanoprecipitation; breast cancer; doxorubicin
