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A New Carbon Nanotube-Based Breast Cancer Drug Delivery System: Preparation and In Vitro Analysis Using Paclitaxel

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Abstract

Paclitaxel (PTX) is one of the most important drugs for breast cancer; however, the drug effects are limited by its systematic toxicity and poor water solubility. Nanoparticles have been applied for delivery of cancer drugs to overcome their limitations. Toward this goal, a novel single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)-based drug delivery system was developed by conjugation of human serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles for loading of antitumor agent PTX. The nanosized macromolecular SWNT-drug carrier (SWNT-HSA) was characterized by TEM, UV–Vis-NIR spectrometry, and TGA. The SWNT-based drug carrier displayed high intracellular delivery efficiency (cell uptake rate of 80 %) in breast cancer MCF-7 cells, as examined by fluorescence-labeled drug carriers, suggesting the needle-shaped SWNT-HSA drug carrier was able to transport drugs across cell membrane despite its macromolecular structure. The drug loading on SWNT-based drug carrier was through high binding affinity of PTX to HSA proteins. The PTX formulated with SWNT-HSA showed greater growth inhibition activity in MCF-7 breast cancer cells than PTX formulated with HSA nanoparticle only (cell viability of 63 vs 70 % in 48 h and 53 vs 62 % in 72 h). The increased drug efficacy could be driven by SWNT-mediated cell internalization. These data suggest that the developed SWNT-based antitumor agent is functional and effective. However, more studies for in vivo drug delivery efficacy and other properties are needed before this delivery system can be fully realized.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by research grant to Satya Prakash from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (MOP 93641). W. Shao acknowledges the Excellence Award from Biomedical Engineering Department, McGill University and the financial support from FRQS (Fonds de recherche du Québec—Santé) Doctoral award. L. Rodes acknowledges the financial support from FRQS (Fonds de recherche du Québec—Santé) Doctoral award. A. Paul acknowledges the Alexander Graham Bell Post Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The authors are grateful for the assistance provided for transmission electron microscopy imaging by Xue-Dong Liu, Department of Physics, McGill University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Technology and Cell Therapy Research Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 3775 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada

    Wei Shao, Laetitia Rodes & Satya Prakash

  2. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Kansas, Learned Hall 1530 W 15th St, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Arghya Paul

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  1. Wei Shao
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  2. Arghya Paul
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  3. Laetitia Rodes
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  4. Satya Prakash
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Correspondence to Satya Prakash.

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Shao, W., Paul, A., Rodes, L. et al. A New Carbon Nanotube-Based Breast Cancer Drug Delivery System: Preparation and In Vitro Analysis Using Paclitaxel. Cell Biochem Biophys 71, 1405–1414 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-014-0363-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-014-0363-0

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