Aptamer-navigated copolymeric drug carrier system for in vitro delivery of MgO nanoparticles as insulin resistance reversal drug candidate in Type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Magnesium Oxide (MgO) nanoparticles are known to play a significant role in lowering the production of lipids and serum glucose for diabetes treatment. Additionally, the emergence of aptamers has created new opportunities in the realization of smart drug delivery systems, mainly attributing to their abilities to be altered at the molecular level, and subsequently be conjugated onto biopolymers harbouring specific drugs, in order to navigate specific cellular sites. The current work reports the synthesis of a multifunctional aptamer-navigated particulate delivery system (DPAP), harbouring MgO (synthesized via chemical - MgO1 and green – MgO2 approaches) nanoparticles, to target 3T3-L1 diabetic cells. In vitro performance indicators, including encapsulation efficiency, targeting capability, cellular transfection efficiency, and insulin reversal capacity, were investigated. While the DLS analysis indicated hydrodynamic sizes of 766.6 nm and 641.3 nm for the DPAP-MgO1 and DPAP-MgO2 formulations, respectively; and zeta potentials of +5.28 mV and −0.025 mV, for the same formulations, respectively. Additionally, DPAP-MgO2 offered better encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of 93.69% and 0.03 mg MgO/mg PLGA, respectively. 3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) assessment showed that both DPAP-MgO1 and DPAP-MgO2 particulate systems enhanced the in vitro cellular uptake, as well as the insulin resistance reversal ability of the 3T3-L1 cells. The outcomes from the current work demonstrate the potential of DPAP particulate system as an effective and promising carrier, for the delivery of MgO nanoparticles in diabetes treatment.