Surface Charge-Switchable Polymeric Magnetic Nanoparticles for the Controlled Release of Anticancer Drug

We develop paclitaxel (PTX) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) coencapsulated, surface charge-switchable, thermosensitive poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-L-lysine-D-galactose (PTX-MNP-PLGA-Lys-Gal) NPs for the controlled release of the anticancer drug. The novel dual signal-responsive nanovehicle is formulated to shield off target at pH 7.4 but bind avidly to tumor cells in acidity, alleviating toxicity and side effects of the drug to normal tissues. The mechanism involves pH-sensitive NPs surface charge switching by the deblocking process of galactose molecules followed by protonation of epsilon-NH2 in lysine residue at acidic pH. Magnetic hyperthermia under near infrared (NIR) irradiation induced the contraction of PTX-MNP-PLGA-Lys-Gal NPs and, in turn, triggered burst release of PTX. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fluorescence microscope analyses, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and xi-potential analyses were performed to characterize physicochemical properties of the as-prepared NPs. The size range of the globule PTX-MNP-PLGA-Lys-Gal NPs after being prescreened was from 130 to 150 nm under simulated physiological medium. The high encapsulation efficiencies of MNPs and PTX were obtained, reaching 85 and 78 wt % for PTX-MNP-PLGA-Lys-Gal NPs, respectively. The tumor inhibitory rate of 78.8% reflected that the resulting NPs could be promising to treat cancer by specific binding and targeting release drug to tumor.