International Journal of Nanomedicine (Jul 2022)

Amphiphilic Dendritic Nanomicelle-Mediated Delivery of Gemcitabine for Enhancing the Specificity and Effectiveness

  • Zhao W,
  • Yang S,
  • Li C,
  • Li F,
  • Pang H,
  • Xu G,
  • Wang Y,
  • Cong M

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 3239 – 3249

Abstract

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Weidong Zhao,1,2,* Shaoyou Yang,3,* Chunxiao Li,1,2 Feifei Li,1,2 Houjun Pang,3 Guangling Xu,1,2 Yuxin Wang,3 Mei Cong3 1Henan Key Laboratory of Immunology and Targeted Drugs, School of Laboratory Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Henan Collaborative Innovation Center of Molecular Diagnosis and Laboratory Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Mei Cong, School of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, 453003, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 0373 3029879, Fax + 86 0373 3029879, Email [email protected]: Gemcitabine is the first line and the gold standard drug for pancreatic cancer. However, the anticancer efficacy is severely limited by its instability and poor cellular uptake. To enhance the clinical efficacy of gemcitabine, we constructed a novel nanodrug delivery system based on amphiphilic dendrimers and aliphatic gemcitabine prodrug.Methods: An aliphatic gemcitabine prodrug and a small amphiphilic dendrimer were synthesized and characterized by high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) as well as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Then the aliphatic gemcitabine prodrug was encapsulated into the small amphiphilic dendrimer by film dispersion method, resulting in a novel nanodrug delivery system. Subsequently, the size, morphology, drug loading, stability, drug release profiles, cell uptake, toxicity, the anticancer activity and in vivo distribution of the new developed gemcitabine delivery system were systematically evaluated by different technical methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light-scattering (DLS), ultraviolet spectrophotometer, flow cytometry, in vivo imaging system etc.Results: We developed a novel nanodrug delivery system of gemcitabine using amphiphilic dendrimer. This dendrimer-based gemcitabine nanoformulation reported here possess a high drug loading of 33%. With the features of small size, stable formulation and pH-responsive drug release, the obtained gemcitabine nanoformulation could effectively accumulate in tumor site and rapid uptake in cells. Finally, the gemcitabine nanoformulation displayed more potent anticancer activity compared to free gemcitabine both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the nanodrug displayed greatly reduced adverse effects and satisfactory biocompatibility.Conclusion: Benefiting the advantageous features of both amphiphilic dendrimers and nanotechnology-based drug delivery, this gemcitabine nanosystem constitutes a promising therapeutic candidate for pancreatic cancer treatment. This study also underlines the potential use of self-assembling amphiphilic dendrimer-based nanotechnology for improving drug efficacy as well as reducing drug toxicity.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: gemcitabine, amphiphilic dendrimer, self-assembling, pancreatic cancer, anticancer candidate

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