Rao YF, Chen W, Liang XG, Huang YZ, Miao J, Liu L, Lou Y, Zhang XG, Wang B, Tang RK, Chen Z, Lu XY. Epirubicin-loaded superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles for transdermal delivery: cancer therapy by circumventing the skin barrier.
SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2015;
11:239-247. [PMID:
24925046 DOI:
10.1002/smll.201400775]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2014] [Revised: 05/24/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The transdermal administration of chemotherapeutic agents is a persistent challenge for tumor treatments. A model anticancer agent, epirubicin (EPI), is attached to functionalized superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles (SPION). The covalent modification of the SPION results in EPI-SPION, a potential drug delivery vector that uses magnetism for the targeted transdermal chemotherapy of skin tumors. The spherical EPI-SPION composite exhibits excellent magnetic responsiveness with a saturation magnetization intensity of 77.8 emu g(-1) . They feature specific pH-sensitive drug release, targeting the acidic microenvironment typical in common tumor tissues or endosomes/lysosomes. Cellular uptake studies using human keratinocyte HaCaT cells and melanoma WM266 cells demonstrate that SPION have good biocompatibility. After conjugation with EPI, the nanoparticles can inhibit WM266 cell proliferation; its inhibitory effect on tumor proliferation is determined to be dose-dependent. In vitro transdermal studies demonstrate that the EPI-SPION composites can penetrate deep inside the skin driven by an external magnetic field. The magnetic-field-assisted SPION transdermal vector can circumvent the stratum corneum via follicular pathways. The study indicates the potential of a SPION-based vector for feasible transdermal therapy of skin cancer.
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