Delivery of folic acid-modified liposomal curcumin for targeted cervical carcinoma therapy.

In this study, novel folic acid (FA)-modified curcumin (CUR) liposomes (LPs) were developed and evaluated for their antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Characterization of the LPs, including transmission electron microscopy, morphology, particle size, and zeta potential studies, was carried out. Drug entrapment efficiency, drug-loading capacity, and release properties in vitro were tested. The in vitro growth inhibition activity, cellular uptake efficiency, and cell apoptosis of FA-modified CUR LPs were also investigated by a cervical cancer HeLa cell model. The optimized distearoyl-l-a-phosphatidylethanolamine (DSPE)-PEG-FA-LPs/CUR formed spherical vesicles of nanometer sizes and had particle sizes of 112.3±4.6 nm, polydispersity index of 0.19±0.03, and zeta potential of -15.3±1.4 mV. In addition, the EE% and DL% of (DSPE)-PEG-FA-LPs/CUR were 87.6% and 7.9%, respectively. Compared with the free drug, FA-modified CUR LPs had sustained-release properties in vitro. In vivo, a strong green fluorescence was observed in the cytoplasmic region after incubation of (DSPE)-PEG-FA-LPs/CUR for 2 hrs. (DSPE)-PEG-FA-LPs/CUR showed a superior antiproliferative effect on HeLa cells and had a better antitumor effect in vivo than the non-modified LPs. These results indicated that (DSPE)-PEG-FA-LPs/CUR was a promising candidate for antitumor drug delivery.