Drug Delivery (Jan 2019)

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-CO-3-hydroxyvalerate) PHBHV biocompatible nanocarriers for 5-FU delivery targeting colorectal cancer

  • Ionut Cristian Radu,
  • Ariana Hudita,
  • Catalin Zaharia,
  • Bianca Galateanu,
  • Horia Iovu,
  • Eugenia (Vasile) Tanasa,
  • Sabina Georgiana Nitu,
  • Octav Ginghina,
  • Carolina Negrei,
  • Aristidis Tsatsakis,
  • Kelly Velonia,
  • Mikhail Shtilman,
  • Marieta Costache

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10717544.2019.1582729
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 1
pp. 318 – 327

Abstract

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Aiming to address the issue of poor bioavailability of most anti-tumor medicines against colorectal cancer, we developed a targeted anticancer nanocarrier using biocarriers able to both bind and easily release their load in a controlled manner. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) carriers were obtained via the emulsification-diffusion method, loaded with 5-fluorouracil and then characterized in terms of particle morphology and size (SEM, DLS), drug uptake and release. The cytotoxic potential of the 5-fluorouracil-loaded polymer nanocarriers on human adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29 cell line) was investigated. The in vitro studies clearly demonstrated that while the nanocarriers themselves slightly alter HT-29 cell viability, when loaded with 5-fluorouracil they significantly decrease cell viability, suggesting that the polymer itself exhibits low cytotoxicity and the drug-loaded carrier acts in an efficient manner to kill HT-29 human adenocarcinoma cells.

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