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Abstract

Objective. To prepare folic acid-chitosan conjugated nanoparticles (FA-CS NPs) and evaluate their targeting specificity on tumor cells. Methods. Chitosan (CS) NPs were prepared by ionic cross linking method, and folic acid (FA) was conjugated with CS NPs by electrostatic interaction. The properties of NPs were investigated, and doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox) as a model drug was encapsulated for investigating drug release pattern in vitro. The cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of FA-CS NPs were also investigated. Results. The results reveal that the obtained FA-CS NPs were monodisperse nanoparticles with suitable average size and positive surface charge. Dox was easily loaded into FA-CS NPs, and the release pattern showed a long and biphasic drug release. Noticeable phagocytosis effect was observed in the presence of rhodamine B-labeled FA-CSNPs when incubating with the folate receptor-positive SMMC-7221 cells. Conclusion. Compared with the unmodified CS NPs, FA-CS NPs showed much higher cell uptaking ability due to the known folate-receptor mediated endocytosis. FA-CS NPs provide a potential way to enhance the using efficiency of antitumor drug by folate receptor mediated targeting delivery.

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Targeted drug delivery via the folate receptor.

Jennifer Sudimack, Robert Lee (2000)

The folate receptor is a highly selective tumor marker overexpressed in greater than 90% of ovarian carcinomas. Two general strategies have been developed for the targeted delivery of drugs to folate receptor-positive tumor cells: by coupling to a monoclonal antibody against the receptor and by coupling to a high affinity ligand, folic acid. First, antibodies against the folate receptor, including their fragments and derivatives, have been evaluated for tumor imaging and immunotherapy clinically and have shown significant targeting efficacy in ovarian cancer patients. Folic acid, a high affinity ligand of the folate receptor, retains its receptor binding properties when derivatized via its gamma-carboxyl. Folate conjugation, therefore, presents an alternative method of targeting the folate receptor. This second strategy has been successfully applied in vitro for the receptor-specific delivery of protein toxins, anti-T-cell receptor antibodies, interleukin-2, chemotherapy agents, gamma-emitting radiopharmaceuticals, magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents, liposomal drug carriers, and gene transfer vectors. Low molecular weight radiopharmaceuticals based on folate conjugates showed much more favorable pharmacokinetic properties than radiolabeled antibodies and greater tumor selectivity in folate receptor-positive animal tumor models. The small size, convenient availability, simple conjugation chemistry, and presumed lack of immunogenicity of folic acid make it an ideal ligand for targeted delivery to tumors.

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Chitosan microspheres as a potential carrier for drugs.

Saurabh Dhawan, R Kaushik, S Wadhawan … (2004)

Chitosan is a biodegradable natural polymer with great potential for pharmaceutical applications due to its biocompatibility, high charge density, non-toxicity and mucoadhesion. It has been shown that it not only improves the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs but also exerts a significant effect on fat metabolism in the body. Gel formation can be obtained by interactions of chitosans with low molecular counterions such as polyphosphates, sulphates and crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. This gelling property of chitosan allows a wide range of applications such as coating of pharmaceuticals and food products, gel entrapment of biochemicals, plant embryo, whole cells, microorganism and algae. This review is an insight into the exploitation of the various properties of chitosan to microencapsulate drugs. Various techniques used for preparing chitosan microspheres and evaluation of these microspheres have also been reviewed. This review also includes the factors that affect the entrapment efficiency and release kinetics of drugs from chitosan microspheres.

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Folate-mediated delivery of macromolecular anticancer therapeutic agents.

Yingjuan Lu, Philip Low (2002)

The receptor for folic acid constitutes a useful target for tumor-specific drug delivery, primarily because: (1) it is upregulated in many human cancers, including malignancies of the ovary, brain, kidney, breast, myeloid cells and lung, (2) access to the folate receptor in those normal tissues that express it can be severely limited due to its location on the apical (externally-facing) membrane of polarized epithelia, and (3) folate receptor density appears to increase as the stage/grade of the cancer worsens. Thus, cancers that are most difficult to treat by classical methods may be most easily targeted with folate-linked therapeutics. To exploit these peculiarities of folate receptor expression, folic acid has been linked to both low molecular weight drugs and macromolecular complexes as a means of targeting the attached molecules to malignant cells. Conjugation of folic acid to macromolecules has been shown to enhance their delivery to folate receptor-expressing cancer cells in vitro in almost all situations tested. Folate-mediated macromolecular targeting in vivo has, however, yielded only mixed results, largely because of problems with macromolecule penetration of solid tumors. Nevertheless, prominent examples do exist where folate targeting has significantly improved the outcome of a macromolecule-based therapy, leading to complete cures of established tumors in many cases. This review presents a brief mechanistic background of folate-targeted macromolecular therapeutics and then summarizes the successes and failures observed with each major application of the technology. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.