Targeted delivery of doxorubicin by Thermo/pH-responsive magnetic nanoparticles in a rat model of breast cancer

The novel folate conjugated Thermo/pH-responsive magnetic nanoparticles (folate-poly-MNPs) have been developed as a potential nanocarrier for improving site-specific drug delivery, tumor drug accumulation, and therapeutic effects while reducing the adverse effects of conventional drug delivery systems. To evaluate the anticancer efficacy of developed tumor-targeted drug delivery system, forty rat models of breast cancer received saline as control, DOX, DOX-poly-MNPs, and DOX-folate-poly-MNPs at a dose of 2 mg/kg/48 h. The DOX-folate-poly-MNPs showed a significant increase in protein expression of BAX and C-caspase-3 with concomitant downregulation of Bcl-2 expression and ki67 proliferation index compared to the DOX group. The synergistic antitumor efficacy of passive and active drug targeting led to enhanced drug uptake, increased tumor cell apoptosis, decreased tumor volume, and a prolonged survival rate in animals, suggesting that DOX-folate-poly-MNPs may prove to be a promising nanomedicine for the smart treatment of breast cancer in the future.

Automated summary

The novel folate conjugated Thermo/pH-responsive magnetic nanoparticles (folate-poly-MNPs) have shown potential as a nanocarrier for site-specific drug delivery and in improving therapeutic effects in breast cancer. In an animal study, DOX-folate-poly-MNPs exhibited synergistic antitumor efficacy by enhancing drug uptake, inducing tumor cell apoptosis, reducing tumor volume, and prolonging survival rate.