Gemcitabine and chlorotoxin conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles for glioblastoma therapy

Many small-molecule anti-cancer drugs have short blood half-lives and toxicity issues due to non-specificity. Nanotechnology has shown great promise in addressing these issues. Here, we report the development of anti-cancer drug gemcitabine-conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles for glioblastoma therapy. A glioblastoma targeting peptide, chlorotoxin, was attached after drug conjugation. The nanoparticles have a small size (similar to 32 nm) and uniform size distribution (PDI approximate to 0.1), and are stable in biological medium. The nanoparticles effectively enter cancer cells without losing potency compared to the free drug. Significantly, the nanoparticles showed a prolonged blood half-life and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier in wild type mice.