Glyco-nanoparticles with sheddable saccharide shells: a unique and potent platform for hepatoma-targeting delivery of anticancer drugs.
Reduction-sensitive shell-sheddable glyco-nanoparticles were designed and developed based on poly(ε-caprolactone)-graft-SS-lactobionic acid (PCL-g-SS-LBA) copolymer for efficient hepatoma-targeting delivery of doxorubicin (DOX). PCL-g-SS-LBA was prepared by ring-opening copolymerization of ε-caprolactone and pyridyl disulfide carbonate followed by postpolymerization modification with thiolated lactobionic acid (LBA-SH) via thiol-disulfide exchange reaction. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that PCL-g-SS-LBA was self-assembled into monodisperse nanoparticles (SS-GNs) with a mean diameter of about 80 nm. SS-GNs while remaining stable under physiological conditions (37 °C, pH 7.4) were prone to rapid shell-shedding and aggregation in the presence of 10 mM dithiothreitol (DTT). DOX was loaded into SS-GNs with a decent loading content of 12.0 wt %. Notably, in vitro release studies revealed that about 80.3% DOX was released from DOX-loaded SS-GNs in 24 h under a reductive condition while low drug release (<21%) was observed for DOX-loaded PCL-g-LBA nanoparticles (reduction-insensitive control) under otherwise the same condition and for DOX-loaded SS-GNs under a nonreductive condition. The flow cytometry and confocal microscopy observations indicated that SS-GNs were efficiently taken up by asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R)-overexpressing HepG2 cells likely via a receptor-mediated endocytosis mechanism and DOX was released into the nuclei of cells following 4 h incubation. MTT assays showed that DOX-loaded SS-GNs exhibited a high antitumor activity toward HepG2 cells, which was comparable to free DOX and about 18-fold higher than their reduction-insensitive counterparts, while blank SS-GNs were nontoxic up to a tested concentration of 1.0 mg/mL. These shell-sheddable glyco-nanoparticles are promising for hepatoma-targeting chemotherapy.
Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China.
Wei
W
Chen
Yan
Y
Zou
Fenghua
F
Meng
Ru
R
Cheng
Chao
C
Deng
Jan
J
Feijen
Zhiyuan
Z
Zhong
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D011108:Polymers; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D004317:Doxorubicin