Multifunctional doxorubicin/superparamagnetic iron oxide-encapsulated Pluronic F127 micelles used for chemotherapy/magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Polymeric micelles are frequently used to transport and deliver drugs throughout the body because they protect against degradation. Research on functional polymeric micelles for biomedical applications has generally shown that micelles have beneficial properties, such as specific functionality, enhanced specific tumor targeting, and stabilized nanostructures. The particular aim of this study was to synthesize and characterize multifunctional polymeric micelles for use in controlled drug delivery systems and biomedical imaging. In this study, a theranostic agent, doxorubicin/superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-encapsulated Pluronic F127 (F127) micelles, was developed for dual chemotherapy/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) purposes, and the structure and composition of the micellar SPIO were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and magnetic measurements. Our results revealed that the micellar SPIO with a diameter of around 100 nm led to a significant advantage in terms of T2 relaxation as compared with a commercial SPIO contrast agent (Resovist (R)) without cell toxicity. After doxorubicin encapsulation, a dose-dependent darkening of MR images was observed and HeLa cells were killed by this theranostic micelle. These findings demonstrate that F127 micelles containing chemotherapeutic agents and SPIO could be used as a multifunctional nanocarrier for cancer treatment and imaging. (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3357344

Dual-purpose magnetic micelles for MRI and gene delivery

“…These relaxitivity r 2 values were significantly larger than those for SPION-dextran NPs (30-50 Fe mM −1 S −1 ) [45] and Fe 3 O 4 -PEG-PAE (poly(b-amino ester) micelle (92.7mM −1 s −1 [46]). These r 2 values were also comparable to the values of reported SPION micelles:110.4 for folate-free SPION-DOX-micelles [31], 121.2 for PEG4.3k–PCL7.2k–SPION [36], 207.99 Pluoronic-F127-SPION micelles [37]. …”

“…The polymeric micelle has been widely studied as a novel nanomedicine platform for anticancer drug delivery and diagnostic imaging applications over the past decade [29-31, 35-37]. This nanoplatform was expected to prolong the drug circulation time in blood while reducing direct contact between drugs and healthy tissues or organs.…”

Doxorubicin loaded iron oxide nanoparticles overcome multidrug resistance in cancer in vitro

“…Another study showed that daunorubicin loaded SPIONs increased the intracellular accumulation of drug in drug resistant leukemia cells, but their therapeutic advantage was unclear [22, 23]. These and other [24–28] studies with drug loaded SPIONs demonstrate their advantage as drug delivery vehicles by increasing intracellular drug concentration and minimizing off-target side effects. However, no study to date has determined if drug loaded SPIONs are able to overcome MDR for improved treatment efficacy.…”

Lipid- and Polymer-Based Nanostructures for Cancer Theranostics

“…In tumor-bearing mice, targeted NPs showed a higher tumor accumulation when compared with non-targeted NPs owing to the integrin-mediated endocytosis, which further led to enhanced tumor retardation. Studies using other polymers such as Pluronic® F-127 have also resulted in stable formulations capable of simultaneous imaging and therapy, suggesting that the strategy of encapsulating SPIO-DOX mixture to formulate nanotheranostic particles is applicable to many existing polymeric NP systems 66.…”