Evaluation of Anti-Cancer Properties of Pegylated Ethosomal Paclitaxel on Human Melanoma Cell Line SK-MEL-3

Purpose: To prepare pegylated ethosomal Paclitaxel (R) by reverse phase evaporation technique, and evaluate its cytotoxic effect on SK-MEL-3 cell line. Methods: Nanodrug was prepared by reverse phase evaporation technique. The characteristics of the nanoparticles were evaluated by a zetasizer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Drug loading and encapsulation efficiency as well as paclitaxel (R) release were determined spectrophotometerically at 227 nm while the cytotoxicity of the pegylated ethosomal nanoencapsulated Paclitaxel (R) was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay on SK-MEL-3 cell line. Results: The mean diameter and zeta potential of drug-loaded pegylated ethosomal particles and blank pegylated ethosomes were 138.1 +/- 2.7 nm and -13.1 mV, and 102.3 +/- 2.1 nm and -19.2 mV, respectively, while drug loading and encapsulation efficiency were 2.82 +/- 0.27 and 96 +/- 1.27 %, respectively. The drug release pattern indicates that the half-life (t1/2) of the nanodrug was approximately twice that of the free drug for both static and dynamic release. Toxicological results indicate approx. 4.5-fold cytotoxicity against SK-MEL-3 cell line compared with the free drug. Conclusion: This study shows that pegylated ethosomal Paclitaxel (R) is significantly considerably more toxic than the free drug on SK-MEL-3 cell line, thus making it an potential alternative to the standard therapy. It is, however, necessary to evaluate the nanoformulation in vivo.