Chondroitin sulfate functionalized liposomes for solid tumor targeting

Abstract

The present investigation was aimed to develop and explore the use of chondroitin sulfate-coupled liposomes (CS-LP) for solid tumor targeting. The liposomes were prepared by cast film method and coupled with chondroitin sulfate. The coupling was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. They were further characterized for various parameters such as vesicle shape and surface morphology, size and size distribution, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, and in vitro release pattern. The vesicle size of the uncoupled liposome (256 nm) was found to be less than that of CS-LP (310 nm). In vitro drug release exhibited a release of 44.2% from uncoupled liposomal formulation, compared to 38.3% as observed in coupled formulation at the end of 24 hr. The uptake of the CS-LP and uncoupled liposomes by MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines was visualized using fluorescence microscopy that revealed the dependence of liposomes recognition and higher uptake on the coupling of chondroitin sulfate. Coupling of the liposomes significantly enhanced the tumor uptake of drug, which is reflected in the recovery of a higher percentage of the dose from tumor following administration of CS-LP in comparison to uncoupled liposomes or free drug, suggesting that they can be used as vectors for solid tumor targeting.

Recent Trends in Multifunctional Liposomal Nanocarriers for Enhanced Tumor Targeting

“…Electrostatic coating of cationic liposomes encapsulating doxorubicin or paclitaxel with a negatively charged bFGF-derived peptide resulted in increased survival of melanoma or prostate tumor-bearing mice over untargeted liposomal formulations, respectively [154]. The use of chondroitin sulfate which binds CD44 overexpressed by tumor cells has recently been introduced [43]. Coupling of chondroitin sulfate to the surface of etoposide-loaded liposomes increased etoposide accumulation in breast cancer xenografts after intravenous injection 40-fold compared to free drug and by 8-fold compared to untargeted liposomes.…”

Chondroitin sulfate functionalized mesostructured silica nanoparticles as biocompatible carriers for drug delivery

“…This character suggests that ChS is potentially a good candidate for usage as a drug carrier. [27][28][29][30] Recently, we used a method of interfacial polymerization in emulsion to fabricate chondroitin sulfatebased nanocapsules for loading of indomethacin. 31 The shell of nanocapsules consisted of the cross-linked ChS chains, and showed a much higher drug loading capacity.…”

Lactobionic acid coupled liposomes: an innovative strategy for targeting hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Lactobionic acid was attached on the surface of liposomes using the reported method (Bagari et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2011). The method involves covalent coupling of DSPE present on the surface of preformed drug-loaded liposomes to lactobionic acid via amide linkage using EDC as a coupling agent (Figure 1).…”