Doubly cationic-fluorescent functionalized biodegradable and biocompatible
nanoparticles for potential cancer therapy
nanoparticles, functionalization, Doxorrubicin, nanoprecipitation, fluorescent.
The mainly limitation of cancer therapy is the nonspecific biodistribution of the
anticancer drugs for the affected tissues. .This way is not different for the doxorubicin
(DOX), a highly potent antineoplastic used against a wide spectrum of solid tumors.
Cationic functionalized polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have demonstrated superior
ability to overcome biological barriers, enhancing the efficacy and reducing side
effects. The purpose of this study was to prepare positively charged poly (lactidecoglycolide)
nanoparticles linked to a fluorescent dye, for the potential treatment and
efficacy monitoring of anticancer drugs. The doxorubicin hydrochloride was used as
template molecule, hyperbranched polyethileneimine (PEI) 25 kDa was used as
cationic agent. . The nanoprecipitation method was optimized to obtain small and
narrow-sized biodegradable and biocompatible DOX-loaded NPs. In this way, different
surfactants were tested, such as surfactant polysorbate 80 and 85, sorbitan
monooleate 80, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poloxamer 188 and 407. Different
PLGA/surfactant, as well as PLGA/PEI ratio were also tested. To obtain fluorescent
labeled NPs, the copolymer was covalently bounded to fluorescein isothiocyanate
(FITC) NP preparation. The particles stabilized with poloxamers 188, using PEI to
PLGA weight ratio 1:5 exhibited uniform size distribution around 60 nm and zeta
potential of +17.1 mV, and biocompatible for the vero cell. The fluorescence was also
proved by fluorescence microscopy images, Fourier transforms Infrared spectroscopy,
and flow cytometry. The experimental data discussed in this approach demonstrated
the feasibility of doubly functionalized biocompatible PLGA nanoparticles for the
potential cancer therapy and for monitoring drug efficacy.