Medical Physics Program, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Biophysics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt.
Biophysics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2020 Jul 1;154:114-122. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.03.027. Epub 2020 Mar 5.
Natural protein-based nanoparticles are promising nano-vehicles for the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs. Caseinate nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin (CasNPs-DOX) have been surface-modified with the natural polysaccharide alginate to generate the novel nanocarrier Alg-CasNPs-DOX. The fabricated nanoparticles have been characterised by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, and zeta potential measurement. Drug encapsulation and release profiles were also investigated. In vivo studies were conducted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of this novel drug delivery system in tumour-bearing mice. The biodistribution and toxicity of the nano-formulation were also assessed. The results showed that encapsulation of DOX in Alg-CasNPs-DOX not only led to controlled and sustained drug release but also significantly enhanced the effectiveness of DOX against Ehrlich carcinoma. Moreover, no significant changes were observed in liver and kidney enzymes, indicating the selective delivery of DOX to the tumour site, thus minimising DOX toxicity to certain vital organs. Accordingly, Alg-CasNPs-DOX was shown as a promising DOX nanocarrier for improving the therapeutic efficacy of DOX against cancer compared to that of free DOX.
天然蛋白基纳米粒是一种很有前途的载药纳米载体，可用于输送化疗药物。载阿霉素（DOX）的酪蛋白纳米粒（CasNPs-DOX）已用天然多糖海藻酸钠进行表面修饰，以生成新型纳米载体Alg-CasNPs-DOX。所制备的纳米粒通过透射电子显微镜、傅里叶变换红外光谱、动态光散射、荧光光谱和zeta 电位测量进行了表征。还研究了药物包封和释放特性。体内研究评估了这种新型药物传递系统在荷瘤小鼠中的治疗效果。还评估了纳米制剂的生物分布和毒性。结果表明，Alg-CasNPs-DOX 中 DOX 的包封不仅导致了药物的控制和持续释放，而且还显著增强了 DOX 对艾氏腹水癌的疗效。此外，肝、肾功能酶没有明显变化，表明 DOX 选择性递送至肿瘤部位，从而使 DOX 对某些重要器官的毒性最小化。因此，与游离 DOX 相比，Alg-CasNPs-DOX 被证明是一种有前途的 DOX 纳米载体，可提高 DOX 对癌症的治疗效果。
