Curcumin/amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoassemblies: Theoretical and spectroscopic studies to address their debut in anticancer therapy

•Novel nanoassemblies of amphiphilic cyclodextrin and curcumin with high dispersibility in water were prepared.•Amphiphilic cyclodextrin/curcumin nanoassemblies were characterized by UV/Vis, Fluorescence and DLS.•Theoretical studies by MM and MD revealed at atomistic level the formation of amphiphilic cyclodextrin/curcumin nanoassembly.•In vitro studies on cancer cells pointed out the complexes suitability as promising nanoadjuvants in anticancer therapy.