Sustained doxorubicin delivery system to breast tumor cancer cell based on a novel cationic molecularly imprinted polymer

Abstract

In this study, Poly(methacrylic acid-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride) or Poly(MAA-PDDA) was synthesized as a cationic molecularly imprinted nano-polymer. After in vitro assays such as cytotoxicity assay and hemolysis activity test, this imprinted nano-polymer was examined for targeted Doxorubicin (DOX) delivery in BALB/c mice bearing MCF7 human breast carcinoma cells. In vivo studies of synthesized nanoparticles on BALB/c mice showed their selectivity. Also, it was found that tumor growth delay (TGD) improved from 1.11 in DOX treated group to 2.82 in cationic polymer combined with DOX. Imprinted cationic polymer provides remarkable prevention of tumor growth. Investigating drug deposition in various tissues showed that DOX concentration was considerably more in tumors than in other tissues.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Breast cancer
• cationic polymer
• doxorubicin
• imprinted polymer
• MCF-7 cell line

Acknowledgments

Here, the Pasteur Institute of Iran is acknowledged for preparing the MCF7 cell line.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

The tests were performed based on the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals and were confirmed by the institutional bioethics commission. No other studies with human participants were included in the study.