Anticancer drug delivery system based on calcium carbonate particles loaded with a photosensitizer.
In photodynamic therapy (PDT), photosensitizers are required to arrive in high concentrations at selective targets like cancer cells avoiding toxicity in healthy tissue. In this work, we propose the application of porous calcium carbonate carriers in the form of polycrystalline vaterite for this task. We investigated the loading efficiency for the photosensitizer Photosens in vaterite micro- and nanocarriers. A possible release mechanism depending on the surrounding pH was studied, showing a fast degradation of the carriers in buffers below pH7. These results hold out the prospect of a novel PDT drug delivery system. Variation of particle size or additional coatings allow custom-design of workload release curves. An intrinsic cancer-sensitivity can be expected from the pH-dependent release in the acidic microenvironment of cancer tissue.
BIOtech Center Dept. of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento, via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy; Saratov State University, Astrakhanskaya Street 83, 410012 Saratov, Russia.
Yulia
Y
Svenskaya
Bogdan
B
Parakhonskiy
Albrecht
A
Haase
Vsevolod
V
Atkin
Evgeny
E
Lukyanets
Dmitry
D
Gorin
Renzo
R
Antolini
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D010316:Particle Size; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D002119:Calcium Carbonate
Calcium carbonate; Cancer; Drug delivery; Photosens; Phthalocyanine; Vaterite