Fabrication of polylactic acid/paclitaxel nano fibers by electrospinning for cancer therapeutics

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a thermoplastic and biodegradable polyester, largely derived from renewable resources such as corn starch, cassava starch and sugarcane. However, PLA is only soluble in a narrow range of solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, chlorinated solvents and heated benzene. The limited choices of solvent for PLA dissolution have imposed significant challenges in the development of specifically engineered PLA nanofibers with electrospinning techniques. Generally, the electrospun polymeric materials have been rendered with unique properties such as high porosity and complex geometry while maintaining its biodegradability and biocompatibility for emerging biomedical applications. In this study, a new anticancer drug delivery system composed of PLA nanofibers with encapsulated paclitaxel was developed by the electrospinning of the respective nanofibers on top of a spin-coated thin film with the same chemical compositions. Our unique approach is meant for promoting strong bonding between PLA-based nanofibers and their respective films in order to improve the prolonged release properties and composite film stability within a fluctuative physiochemical environment during cell culture. PLA/paclitaxel nanofiber supported on respective polymeric films were probed by scanning electronic microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and water contact measurement for determining their surface morphologies, fibers’ diameters, molecular vibrational modes, and wettability, respectively. Moreover, PLA/paclitaxel nanofibers supported on respective spin-coated films at different loadings of paclitaxel were evaluated for their abilities in killing human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116). More importantly, MTT assays showed that regardless of the concentrations of paclitaxel, the growth of HCT-116 was effectively inhibited by the prolonged release of paclitaxel from PLA/paclitaxel nanofibers. An effective prolonged delivery system of paclitaxel based on PLA nanofiber-based film has demonstrated exciting potentials for emerging applications as implantable drug delivery patch in post-surgical cancer eradication.

Modification of Poly(lactic acid) with Orange Peel Powder as Biodegradable Composite

“…Figure 2 shows the FTIR spectra ranging from wavenumber 4000 cm −1 to 550 cm −1 . The small peaks at 2946.09 to 2996.32 cm −1 are attributed to the CH stretching vibration, and sharp absorption peaks at 1749.29 cm −1 belongs to the C=O stretching which can be observed in all samples [ 30 , 31 ].…”

A review on biopolymer-derived electrospun nanofibers for biomedical and antiviral applications

“…One disadvantage of using a second polymer to facilitate electrospinning is that the alginate concentration has been limited to 40% by weight. 46…”

Recent applications of electrical, centrifugal, and pressurised emerging technologies for fibrous structure engineering in drug delivery, regenerative medicine and theranostics

“…There seems to be a large focus on specific areas where delivery for timely and targeted action is crucial such as anticancer delivery. Chemotherapeutics such as 5FU [352][353][354][355][356][357][358], doxorubicin [356,[359][360][361][362], paclitaxel [363][364][365][366], cisplatin [367][368][369] and metformin [370] have been used as model drugs to show the effectiveness of ES in cancer therapy. For example, Ghahreman et al fabricated 5FU-loaded PCL/gelatin fibers which showed by increasing the amount of gelatin in the composition; drug release increased [354].…”