Role of monensin PLGA polymer nanoparticles and liposomes as potentiator of ricin A immunotoxins in vitro.

Monensin is a carboxylic ionophore which can potentiate the activity of ricin based immunotoxins (IT) in vitro and in vivo against a variety of human tumours. Monensin was encapsulated into nanoparticles (NP) by using biodegradable poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA, 50:50). The NP were prepared by modified emulsification-solvent evaporation method. High shear homogenization followed by simultaneous stirring and bath sonication were used for preparing NP. The size of NP was determined by photon correlation spectroscopy using a BI 90 particle sizer (Brookhaven Instruments). The average size of NP could be decreased from 567 nm to 163 nm by increasing the concentration of polyvinyl alcohol from 10% to 100% of PLGA. The NP were spherical in shape as observed by Atomic Force Microscopy. The concentration of monensin in the NP was analyzed by HPLC and the entrapment efficiency was found to be more than 12%. The zeta potential of NP was -25.8 (+/- 1.3) mv, which did not change significantly after resuspension of the freeze dried sample. The NP were tested against HL-60 and HT-29 human tumour cell lines in vitro. Monensin NP potentiated the activity of IT by 40 to 50 times against these cell lines. There was however, no difference between the NP and liposomes for their potentiating affect of IT against the two tumour cell lines.