PEGylated apoptotic protein-loaded PLGA microspheres for cancer therapy

Recent Progress in Drug Release Testing Methods of Biopolymeric Particulate System

Biopolymeric microparticles have been widely used for long-term release formulations of short half-life chemicals or synthetic peptides. Characterization of the drug release from microparticles is important to ensure product quality and desired pharmacological effect. However, there is no official method for long-term release parenteral dosage forms. Much work has been done to develop methods for in vitro drug release testing, generally grouped into three major categories: sample and separate, dialysis membrane, and continuous flow (flow-through cell) methods. In vitro drug release testing also plays an important role in providing insight into the in vivo performance of a product. In vitro release test with in vivo relevance can reduce the cost of conducting in vivo studies and accelerate drug product development. Therefore, investigation of the in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC) is increasingly becoming an essential part of particulate formulation development. This review summarizes the principles of the in vitro release testing methods of biopolymeric particulate system with the recent research articles and discusses their characteristics including IVIVC, accelerated release testing methods, and stability of encapsulated drugs.

Paclitaxel-loaded star-shaped copolymer nanoparticles for enhanced malignant melanoma chemotherapy against multidrug resistance

Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most dangerous type of skin cancer with annually increasing incidence and death rates. However, chemotherapy for MM is restricted by low topical drug concentration and multidrug resistance. In order to surmount the limitation and to enhance the therapeutic effect on MM, a new nanoformulation of paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded cholic acid (CA)-functionalized star-shaped poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) nanoparticles (NPs) (shortly PTX-loaded CA-PLGA-TPGS NPs) was fabricated by a modified method of nanoprecipitation. The particle size, zeta potential, morphology, drug release profile, drug encapsulation efficiency, and loading content of PTX-loaded NPs were detected. As shown by confocal laser scanning, NPs loaded with coumarin-6 were internalized by human melanoma cell line A875. The cellular uptake efficiency of CA-PLGA-TPGS NPs was higher than those of PLGA NPs and PLGA-TPGS NPs. The antitumor effects of PTX-loaded NPs were evaluated by the MTT assay in vitro and by a xenograft tumor model in vivo, demonstrating that star-shaped PTX-loaded CA-PLGA-TPGS NPs were significantly superior to commercial PTX formulation Taxol®. Such drug delivery nanocarriers are potentially applicable to the improvement of clinical MM therapy.