Targeted nanoparticles for the delivery of novel bioactive molecules to pancreatic cancer cells

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer (PaCa) is a multifaceted disorder with an extremely poor prognosis. There is an urgent need to identify new and safe drugs as well as to develop novel tumor-targeted controlled release systems for effective treatment of late stage and resistant PaCa. Active targeting via the inclusion of specific ligands on the nanoparticles (NPs) is envisioned to provide a powerful therapeutic strategy. Herein, we present a study on the design and the development of novel DFCencapsulated biocompatible polymeric NPs, functionalized with peptides to selectively bind to Plec-1 (PTP), or densely decorated by low molecular weight organic molecules as alternative targeting ligands (2-ABA), and evaluated a) the impact on ligand binding and b) the in vitro antiproliferative efficacy against a panel of PaCa cells