Development of drug-loaded chitosan hollow nanoparticles for delivery of paclitaxel to human lung cancer A549 cells

Abstract

In this study, biodegradable chitosan hollow nanospheres (CHN) were fabricated using polystyrene nanospheres (PS) as templates. CHN were applied to increase the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs. The lung cancer drug paclitaxel (PTX), which is used as a model drug, was loaded into CHN by the adsorption equilibrium method. The drug-loaded sample (PTX-CHN) offered sustained PTX release and good bioavailability. The state characterization of PTX by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that the PTX absorbed into CHN existed in an amorphous state. An in vitro toxicity experiment indicated that CHN were nontoxic as carriers of poorly water-soluble drugs. The PTX-CHN produced a marked inhibition of lung cancer A549 cells proliferation and encouraged apoptosis. A cell uptake experiment indicated that PTX-CHN was successfully taken up by lung cancer A549 cells. Furthermore, a degradation experiment revealed that CHN were readily biodegradable. These findings state clearly that CHN can be regarded as promising biomaterials for lung cancer treatment.

Keywords:

• Chitosan hollow nanospheres
• paclitaxel
• lung cancer A549 cells
• sustained release
• biodegradable

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81302707), Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (no. 2013022052), Dr. Start-up Foundation of Liaoning Province (no. 20141195), Quanmin Oral Graduate Sci-tech Innovation Foundation of Jinzhou Medical University (no. AH2015014) and Liaoning province excellent talents plans in Colleges and Universities (no. LJQ2015065).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81302707), Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (no. 2013022052), Dr. Start-up Foundation of Liaoning Province (no. 20141195), Quanmin Oral Graduate Sci-tech Innovation Foundation of Jinzhou Medical University (no. AH2015014) and Liaoning province excellent talents plans in Colleges and Universities (no. LJQ2015065).