<i>In Vitro</i> Efficacy of Paclitaxel-Loaded
Dual-Responsive Shell Cross-Linked
Polymer Nanoparticles Having Orthogonally Degradable Disulfide Cross-Linked
Corona and Polyester Core Domains
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
Paclitaxel-loaded
shell cross-linked polymeric nanoparticles
having an enzymatically and hydrolytically degradable poly(lactic
acid) core and a glutathione-responsive disulfide cross-linked poly(oligoethylene
glycol)-containing corona were constructed in aqueous solution and
investigated for their stimuli-responsive release of the embedded
therapeutics and <i>in vitro</i> cytotoxicity. Paclitaxel
release from the nanoparticles in PBS buffer was accelerated in the
presence of glutathione at both pH 5.5 and pH 7.4, reaching <i>ca</i>. 65% cumulative drug release after 8 d, whereas only <i>ca</i>. 50% and 35% extents of release were observed in the
absence of glutathione at pH 5.5 and pH 7.4, respectively. Enzyme-catalyzed
hydrolysis of the nanoparticle core resulted in the degradation of <i>ca</i>. 30% of the poly(lactic acid) core to lactic acid within
12 h, with coincidently triggered paclitaxel release of <i>ca</i>. 37%, as opposed to only <i>ca</i>. 17% release from the
uncatalyzed nanoparticles at pH 7.4. While empty nanoparticles did
not show any inherent cytotoxicity at the highest tested concentrations,
paclitaxel-loaded nanoparticles showed IC<sub>50</sub> values that
were similar to those of free paclitaxel at 72 h incubation with KB
cells and were more efficacious at <i>ca</i>. 3-fold lower
IC<sub>50</sub> value (0.031 μM vs 0.085 μM) at 2 h of
incubation. Against human ovarian adenocarcinoma cells, the paclitaxel-loaded
nanoparticles exhibited a remarkable <i>ca</i>. 11-fold
lower IC<sub>50</sub> than a Taxol-mimicking formulation (0.0007 μM
vs 0.008 μM) at 72 h of incubation. These tunable dual-responsive
degradable nanoparticles show great promise for delivery of paclitaxel
to tumor tissues, given their superior <i>in vitro</i> efficacies
compared to that of free paclitaxel and Taxol-mimicking formulations