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Bypassing multidrug resistance in human breast cancer cells with lipid/polymer particle assemblies

Authors Li, Xu H, Li, Yao, Xie, Shen H, Shen S, Wang X, Jin Y

Received 2 November 2011

Accepted for publication 24 November 2011

Published 9 January 2012 Volume 2012:7 Pages 187—197

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S27864

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 3



Bo Li1, Hui Xu2, Zhen Li1, Mingfei Yao1, Meng Xie1, Haijun Shen1, Song Shen1, Xinshi Wang1, Yi Jin1
1
College of Pharmaceutical sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 2No. 202 Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Shenyang, China

Background: Multidrug resistance (MDR) mediated by the overexpression of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp), remains one of the major obstacles to effective cancer chemotherapy. In this study, lipid/particle assemblies named LipoParticles (LNPs), consisting of a dimethyldidodecylammonium bromide (DMAB)-modified poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticle core surrounded by a 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) shell, were specially designed for anticancer drugs to bypass MDR in human breast cancer cells that overexpress P-gp.
Methods: Doxorubicin (DOX), a chemotherapy drug that is a P-gp substrate, was conjugated to PLGA and encapsulated in the self-assembled LNP structure. Physiochemical properties of the DOX-loaded LNPs were characterized in vitro. Cellular uptake, intracellular accumulation, and cytotoxicity were compared in parental Michigan Cancer Foundation (MCF)-7 cells and P-gp-overexpressing, resistant MCF-7/adriamycin (MCF-7/ADR) cells.
Results: This study found that the DOX formulated in LNPs showed a significantly increased accumulation in the nuclei of drug-resistant cells relative to the free drug, indicating that LNPs could alter intracellular traffic and bypass drug efflux. The cytotoxicity of DOX loaded-LNPs had a 30-fold lower half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value than free DOX in MCF-7/ADR, measured by the colorimetric cell viability (MTT) assay, correlated with the strong nuclear retention of the drug.
Conclusion: The results show that this core-shell lipid/particle structure could be a promising strategy to bypass MDR.

Keywords: chemotherapy, drug delivery, polymeric nanoparticles, multidrug resistance

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