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Abstract
Background
A novel brain drug delivery system using cationic bovine serum albumin (CBSA)-conjugated biodegradable polymersomes (CBSA-PO) was prepared, and its intracellular delivery mechanism and brain delivery kinetics were evaluated.
Methods and results
Biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PEG-PCL) was used to prepare the polymersomes, and thiolated CBSA was conjugated with the surface of the polymersome. Transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering showed that the CBSA-PO had a round and vesicle-like shape, with a mean diameter of around 100 nm. Coupling of CBSA with polymersomes was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Uptake of CBSA-PO by bEnd.3 cells was significantly higher than that of unconjugated polymersomes, but was inhibited by low temperature, free CBSA, and poly-L-lysine, indicating that endocytosis was energy-driven and absorptive-mediated. Cell viability assays confirmed the good safety profile of biodegradable CBSA-PO. Pharmacokinetic results demonstrated that the polymersomes had long circulation times, and CBSA conjugation on the polymersomes significantly increased the blood–brain barrier permeability surface area product by 3.6-fold and the percentage of injected dose per gram brain (% ID/g brain) by 2.1-fold. Capillary depletion experiments showed that CBSA-PO was distributed into the brain parenchyma in a time-dependent manner, with few polymersomes detected, indicating that conjugation of polymersomes with CBSA significantly improved their transcytosis across the brain–blood barrier.
Conclusion
These results suggest that CBSA-PO is a promising drug brain delivery carrier with low toxicity.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2007CB935800), National Science and Technology Major Project (2009ZX09310-006), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81001404, 81100345), and the Doctoral fund of Ministry of Education of China (20100071120050). Thanks are extended to Professor Weilin Dai, Division of Physics, Fudan University, China, for his advice and help with the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.