Fabrication of cell penetrating peptide labelled biodegradable poly(methacrylamide) nanoparticles for delivery of doxorubicin in HeLa cells

Abstract

Advancements in cancer nano-therapeutics have led to the development of new and improved drug delivery systems but challenges still persist in the form of several limitations such as ineffective drug distribution, poor water solubility, and drug degradation. In lieu of this, the aim of this work is the development of a highly efficient nanomaterial based drug delivery system to overcome these limitations. In this work, we have successfully developed a theranostic platform where biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles have been used to reduce drug toxicity, control drug release, and provide biocompatibility with enhanced bioimaging. Anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX) was encapsulated in polymeric nanoparticles composed of P(N-(3-aminopropyl) methacrylamide) homopolymer, P(APMA), bearing primary amines for further modification. Water soluble CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were used as the fluorescent tag. The encapsulation efficiency of QDs-DOX conjugates into polymeric nanoparticles was found to be very high. To enhance the cellular internalization, a cell penetrating peptide BP100 (KKLFKKILKYL-Amide) was also attached on the surface of these polymeric nanoparticles and characterized using confocal microscopy. The drug release from the nanoconjugates at acidic pH showed enhanced internalization and growth inhibition in HeLa cells. Therefore, the synthesized conjugates can act as promising candidate for the successful treatment of cancer.