Hydroxyethyl starch stabilized polydopamine nanoparticles for cancer chemotherapy

Bio-inspired polydopamine (PDA) based nanomaterials, particularly nanoparticles (NPs), received tremendous attention and have been applied to various fields, including drug delivery. Nonetheless, bare PDA NPs will aggregate in physiological conditions and can be hardly applied for in vivo explorations. Herein, we present the preparation of novel hydroxyethyl starch coated PDA (HES-PDA) NPs for cancer chemotherapy. The frequently used PEG-modified PDA (PEG-PDA) NPs are also manufactured as a control and doxorubicin (DOX) is chosen as a model drug. The stability, drug loading capacity, lyophilization and rehydration property, biodistribution, in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor efficacy, and toxicity of DOX-loaded HES-PDA (DOX@HES-PDA NPs) are investigated. Collectively, DOX@HES-PDA NPs, similar to DOX@PEG-PDA NPs, show potent antitumor efficacy and dramatically mitigate toxicity associated with DOX. The HES-PDA NPs reported herein represent a novel biodegradable multifunctional nano-drug formulation, with significant translation potentials, for cancer chemotherapy against a wide spectrum of cancers.