Engineering of self-assembled nanopartide platform for precisely controlled combination drug therapy

摘要

The genomic revolution has identified therapeutic targets for a plethora of diseases, creating a need to develop robust technolo-gies for combination drug therapy. In the present work, we describe a self-assembled polymeric nanopartide (NP) platform to target and control precisely the codelivery of drugs with varying physico-chemical properties to cancer cells. As proof of concept, wecode-livered cisplatin and docetaxel (Dtxl) to prostate cancer cells with synergistic cytotoxicity. A polylactide (PLA) derivative with pendant hydroxyl groups was prepared and conjugated to a platinum(IV) [Pt(IV)] prodrug, c,t,c-[Pt(NH_3)_2(O_2CCH_2CH_2COOH)(OH)Cl_2] [PLA-Pt(IV)]. A blend of PLA-Pt(IV) functionalized polymer and carboxyl-terminated poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b/otfr-poly(ethylene gly-col) copolymer in the presence or absence of Dtxl, was converted, in microfluidic channels, to NPs with a diameter of ~100 nm. This process resulted in excellent encapsulation efficiency (EE) and high loading of both hydrophilic platinum prodrug and hydrophobic Dtxl with reproducible EEs and loadings. The surface of the NPs was derivatized with the A10 aptamer, which binds to the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) on prostate cancer cells. These NPs undergo controlled release of both drugs over a period of 48-72 h. Targeted NPs were internalized by the PSMA-expressing LNCaP cells via endocytosis, and formation of cisplatin 1,2-d(GpG) intrastrand cross-links on nuclear DNA was verified. In vitro toxici-ties demonstrated superiority of the targeted dual-drug combina-tion NPs over NPs with single drug or nontargeted NPs. This work reveals the potential of a single, programmable nanopartide to blend and deliver a combination of drugs for cancer treatment.