Discriminated effects of thiolated chitosan-coated pMMA paclitaxel-loaded nanoparticles on different normal and cancer cell lines

The aim of the present work was to prepare and characterize poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles coated by chitosan-glutathione conjugate so as to encapsulate insoluble anticancer drugs. Nanoparticles were synthesized through radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate. Paclitaxel (PTX), a model anticancer drug, was encapsulated in nanoparticles with a maximal encapsulation efficiency of 98.27%. These nanoparticles showed sustained in vitro release of the incorporated PTX (75% of the loaded dose was released in 10 days). All nanoparticles had positive charge and were spherical, with a size range of about 130-250 nm. The PTX-loaded nanoparticles showed cytotoxicity for NIH 3T3 and T47D breast carcinoma cells, along with no cytotoxicity for two colon cell lines (HT29, Caco2).