Fabrication of biodegradable PEG–PLA nanospheres for solubility, stabilization, and delivery of curcumin

Abstract

Curcumin is an effective and safe anticancer agent, and also known to induce vasodilation, but its hydrophobicity limits its clinical application. In this study, a simple emulsion method was developed to prepare biodegradable poly (ethylene glycol)–poly (lactic acid) (PEG–PLA) nanospheres to encapsulate curcumin to improve its solubility and stability. The nanoparticle size was around 150 nm with a narrow size distribution. Fluorescence microscopy showed that curcumin encapsulated PEG-PLA nanospheres were taken up rapidly by Hela and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. This novel nanoparticulate carrier may improve the bioavailability of curcumin without affecting its anticancer properties.

Keywords:

• Curcumin
• drug delivery
• nanospheres
• poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(lactic acid)

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express great appreciation to Dr. Fantao Meng (Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine) for his instructive discussion; Dr. Brian P. O’Rourke (Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine) for his assistance with cell culture incubation; Dr. Enpeng Zhao (Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine) for his technical help with cytotoxic study and helpful discussion.

Disclosure statement

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

Funding information

This study was supported by a grant [P01 HL1,10900] from National Institutes of Health.