2 research outputs found
Polypeptide-Grafted Nanodiamonds for Controlled Release of Melittin to Treat Breast Cancer
A peptide
vector consisting of nanodiamonds (NDs) and PEGylated
polyglutamic acid (ND@PLGPEG-<i>co</i>-PLGA) has been designed
and developed. The negative charges at the surface of the vector were
exploited to bind a positively charged peptide drug melittin via electrostatic
interaction. The surface was saturated when the weight ratio of ND@PLGPEG-<i>co</i>-PLGA to melittin (MEL) was 5 to 1. The desorption of
melittin from the surface was controlled by pH, with almost no melittin
released from the nanoparticles under physiological pH conditions
in 2 days. However, steady release was detected in an acidic environment.
The preserved structure and activity of bound melittin were demonstrated
by the HPLC and 2D MCF-7 cell culture models, respectively. The bound
melittin exhibited improved toxicity toward MCF-7 cells dependent
on the concentration of MEL in NDs. Our results suggested that the
negatively charged polymer-coated NDs were able to release the cargo
upon exposure to breast cancer cells
Drug-Induced Morphology Transition of Self-Assembled Glycopolymers: Insight into the Drug–Polymer Interaction
It
is often assumed that a hydrophobic drug will be entrapped in
the hydrophobic environment of a micelle. Little attention is usually
drawn to the actual location of the drug and the effect of the drug
on properties. In this publication, we show how the chosen drug curcumin
is not only unexpectedly located in the shell of the micelle but also
that the accumulation in the hydrophilic block can lead to changes
in morphology during self-assembly. A block copolymer poly(1-<i>O</i>-methacryloyl-β-d-fructopyranose)-<i>b</i>-poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(1-<i>O</i>-MAFru)<sub>36</sub>-<i>b</i>-PMMA<sub>192</sub>, was loaded with different
amounts of curcumin. The resulting self-assembled nanoparticles were
analyzed using transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray
scattering (SAXS), and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). Initial
microscopy evidence revealed that the presence of the drug induces
morphology changes from cylindrical micelles (no drug) to polymersomes,
which decreased in size with increasing amount of drug. SAXS and SANS
analysis, supported by fluorescence studies, revealed that the drug
is interacting with the glycopolymer block. The drug influenced not
only the shape of the drug carrier but also the level of hydration
of the shell. Increasing the amount of drug dehydrated the nanoparticle
shell, which coincided with a lower nanoparticle uptake by MCF-7 breast
cancer cells and noncancerous RAW 264.7 cells. As a result, we showed
that the drug can influence the behavior of the nanoparticle in terms
of shape and shell hydration, which could influence the performance
in a biological setting. Although the depicted scenario may not apply
to every drug carrier, it is worth evaluation if the drug will interfere
in unexpected ways