Development of Parvifloron D-Loaded Smart Nanoparticles to Target Pancreatic Cancer
Ana Santos-Rebelo,
Catarina Garcia,
Carla Eleutério,
Ana Bastos,
Sílvia Castro Coelho,
Manuel A. N. Coelho,
Jesús Molpeceres,
Ana S. Viana,
Lia Ascensão,
João F. Pinto,
Maria M. Gaspar,
Patrícia Rijo,
Catarina P. Reis
Affiliations
Ana Santos-Rebelo
Centro de Investigação em Biociências e Tecnologias da Saúde (CBIOS), Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
Catarina Garcia
Centro de Investigação em Biociências e Tecnologias da Saúde (CBIOS), Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
Carla Eleutério
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Ana Bastos
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Sílvia Castro Coelho
Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment (LEPABE), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
Manuel A. N. Coelho
Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment (LEPABE), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
Jesús Molpeceres
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcalá, Ctra. A2 km33,600 Campus Universitario, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Ana S. Viana
Centro de Química e Bioquímica (CQB), Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Lia Ascensão
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
João F. Pinto
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Maria M. Gaspar
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Patrícia Rijo
Centro de Investigação em Biociências e Tecnologias da Saúde (CBIOS), Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
Catarina P. Reis
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Pancreatic cancer is the eighth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. For this reason, the development of more effective therapies is a major concern for the scientific community. Accordingly, plants belonging to Plectranthus genus and their isolated compounds, such as Parvifloron D, were found to have cytotoxic and antiproliferative activities. However, Parvifloron D is a very low water-soluble compound. Thus, nanotechnology can be a promising delivery system to enhance drug solubility and targeted delivery. The extraction of Parvifloron D from P. ecklonii was optimized through an acetone ultrasound-assisted method and isolated by Flash-Dry Column Chromatography. Then, its antiproliferative effect was selectivity evaluated against different cell lines (IC50 of 0.15 ± 0.05 μM, 11.9 ± 0.7 μM, 21.6 ± 0.5, 34.3 ± 4.1 μM, 35.1 ± 2.2 μM and 32.1 ± 4.3 μM for BxPC3, PANC-1, Ins1-E, MCF-7, HaCat and Caco-2, respectively). To obtain an optimized stable Parvifloron D pharmaceutical dosage form, albumin nanoparticles were produced through a desolvation method (yield of encapsulation of 91.2%) and characterized in terms of size (165 nm; PI 0.11), zeta potential (−7.88 mV) and morphology. In conclusion, Parvifloron D can be efficiently obtained from P. ecklonii and it has shown selective cytotoxicity to pancreatic cell lines. Parvifloron D nanoencapsulation can be considered as a possible efficient alternative approach in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.