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Prostate cancer is the second cause of cancer death in men worldwide. Docetaxel (DTX), an antimitotic drug, is widely used for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer patients.Taxotere ® is a commercial DTX formulation. It contains a polysorbate 80 surfactant to improve DTX aqueous solubility, which has been associated with hypersensitivity reactions in patients. Liposomes have been used as promising delivery systems for a range of hydrophobic drugs, such as DTX, offering improved drug water solubility and biocompatibility, without compromising its anticancer activity. Herein, DTX-loaded liposomes were developed using the Box-Behnken factorial design. The optimized formulation was nano-sized, homogenous in size (67.47 nm) with high DTX encapsulation efficiency (99.95%). The encapsulated DTX was in a soluble amorphous state, which was slowly released. Next, to increase the liposomes selectivity to prostate cancer cells, cetuximab, an anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody. was successfully conjugated to the surface of liposomes, without compromising cetuximab protein structure and stability. As expected, our results showed higher cellular uptake and toxicity of immunoliposomes, compared to non-targeted liposomes, in DU145 (EGFRoverxpressing) prostate cancer cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of engineering EGFR-targeted liposomes to enhance the selectivity of DTX delivery to EGFR-positive prostate cancer cells.

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This study aims to produce and characterize alginate bilayer membranes composed of single membranes with varying cross-linking degrees to modulate simvastatin release, with potential to be used for wound-dressing. The single-layer and bilayer membranes were characterized by weight, thickness, surface pH, equilibrium-humidity, swelling degree, solubility, infrared spectroscopy (attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared), scanning electron microscopy, and water vapor transmission. Simvastatin diffusion and release rates were analyzed using Franz’s cells; its indirect cytotoxicity was analyzed using human keratinocyte cells. The difference in the cross-linking degree (bottom and top layers) influenced the morphology of the membrane, and consequently its physical barrier properties. An in vitro release study demonstrated that the bilayer membrane could sustain drug-release for longer time as compared to the single-layer membrane, which could be potentially beneficial for long-term treatment of chronic wounds. A cell viability assay showed that simvastatin-loaded alginate membranes could be characterized as noncytotoxic, demonstrating their potential for use in wound-dressing applications.

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