PEG coated and doxorubicin loaded multimodal Gadolinium oxide nanoparticles for simultaneous drug delivery and imaging applications

We report water-in-oil microemulsion mediated synthesis of PEG 1 1 Polyethylene glycol coated Gd2O3 NPs 2 2 Nanoparticles loaded with fluorescent anti-cancer drug dox 3 3 Doxorubicin for synchronous drug delivery, optical and MR 4 4 Magnetic resonance imaging applications. These PEG covered Gd2O3 NPs loaded with dox (Gd-PEG-dox NPs) were found to possess spherical morphology with 13nm size as measured from TEM and the hydrodynamic diameter comes out to be 37nm as determined from DLS. Fluorescence spectra and fluorescence microscopy images confirmed optical activity of the NPs. The paramagnetic nature of NPs was affirmed by NMR line broadening effect on the spectrum of surrounding water protons. Therefore, these particles can be efficiently used as CA 5 5 Contrast agent in MR imaging. In vitro analysis showed significant cellular uptake of particles by A-549 cells. A pH dependent drug release pattern was observed for the NPs. Cell viability assay performed on A-549, PANC-1 and U-87 cancerous cell lines revealed that Gd-PEG-dox NPs are cytotoxic. On the basis of these observations, it can be concluded that these multi-modal paramagnetic NPs promise potential cancer therapy along with optical and MR imaging applications. Graphical abstract
Source: International Journal of Pharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research