PLGA-PEG-PLGA for oral chemotherapeutic agents

PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) provides a variety of PLGA-PEG-PLGA triblock copolymers through its polyvivo line (e.g. cat# AK12, AK15). Recently these types of polymers have been utilized to create Salidroside loaded lipid emulsions for improved oral bioavailability of this chemotherapeutic agent.  Read more: Fang, Dai-Long, Yan Chen, Bei Xu, Ke Ren, Zhi-Yao He, Li-Li He, Yi Lei, Chun-Mei Fan, and Xiang-Rong Song. "Development of Lipid-Shell and Polymer Core Nanoparticles with Water-Soluble Salidroside for Anti-Cancer Therapy." International journal of molecular sciences 15, no. 3 (2014): 3373-3388.  Full-text available at: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/15/3/3373/pdf

 “Abstract: Salidroside (Sal) is a potent antitumor drug with high water-solubility. The clinic application of Sal in cancer therapy has been significantly restricted by poor oral absorption and low tumor cell uptake. To solve this problem, lipid-shell and polymer-core nanoparticles (Sal-LPNPs) loaded with Sal were developed by a double emulsification method. The processing parameters including the polymer types, organic phase, PVA types and amount were systemically investigated. The obtained optimal Sal-LPNPs, composed of PLGA-PEG-PLGA triblock copolymers and lipids, had high entrapment efficiency (65%), submicron size (150 nm) and negatively charged surface (−23 mV). DSC analysis demonstrated the successful encapsulation of Sal into LPNPs. The core-shell structure of Sal-LPNPs was verified by TEM. Sal released slowly from the LPNPs without apparent burst release. MTT assay revealed that 4T1 and PANC-1 cancer cell lines were sensitive to Sal treatment. Sal-LPNPs had significantly higher antitumor activities than free Sal in 4T1 and PANC-1 cells. The data indicate that LPNPs are a promising Sal vehicle for anti-cancer therapy and worthy of further investigation. Keywords: salidroside; lipid-shell and polymer-core nanoparticles (LPNPs); PLGA; antitumor”