More than one out of every three new cancers is a skin cancer, and the large majority are basal cell carcinomas (BCC). Targeted therapy targets the cancer’s specific genes, proteins, or tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival and blocks the growth as well as the spread of cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy cells. Therefore, in the present study AS1411 aptamer-functionalized liposomes for the treatment of BCC were obtained and characterized. Aptamer conjugation increased liposome size, suggesting that the presence of an additional hydrophilic molecule on the liposomal surface increased the hydrodynamic diameter. As expected, the negatively charged DNA aptamer reduced the surface potential of the liposomes. Vertical Franz diffusion cells with artificial membranes were used to evaluate the in vitro release of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The aptamer moieties increase the stability of the liposomes and act as a supplementary steric barrier leading to a lower cumulative amount of the released 5-FU. The in vitro cell viability, targeting capability and apoptotic effects of liposomes on the human dermal fibroblasts and on the basal cell carcinoma TE 354.T cell lines were also evaluated. The results indicate that the functionalized liposomes are more efficient as nanocarriers than the non-functionalized ones.

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Non-aqueous dispersions (NAD) with two types of polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), such as hydrophobic poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and hydrophilic cross-linked poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PNVP), were synthesized in the present study starting from monomer-in-silicone oil (PDMS) polymerizable non-aqueous emulsions stabilized with the same tailor-made PDMS-based block copolymer. These NPs were loaded with CCisplatin, an antitumoral model drug, directly from the emulsion polymerization step, and it was observed that the presence of the drug leads only to a slight increase of the NPs size, from 120 to 150 nm. The drug release kinetics was evaluated at 37 °C in phosphate buffer at pH = 7.4 and it appeared that the drug release rate from the hydrophilic cross-linked PNVP-based NPs is higher than that from the hydrophobic PCL-based NPs. Moreover, haemolysis tests revealed the fact that these two types of NPs have a good compatibility with the blood. Furthermore, for both the free and drug-loaded NPs, the in vitro cytotoxicity and apoptosis was studied on two types of cancer cell lines, such as MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line) and A-375 (skin cancer cell line). Both types of NPs had no cytotoxic effect but, at a concentration of 500 μg/mL, presented an apoptotic effect similar to that of the free drug.