Multifunctional titanium phosphate carriers for enhancing drug delivery and evaluating real-time therapeutic efficacy of a hydrophobic drug component in

• Published in: Analyst (London) Vol. 146; no. 5; pp. 162 - 1625
• Main Authors: Luo, Da, Zhang, Yi, Wang, Minyu, Zhu, Chen, Yao, Yue, Yao, Weifeng, Zhang, Li, Cheng, Fang-Fang
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 08.03.2021
• ISSN: 0003-2654; 1364-5528
• DOI: 10.1039/d1an00163a

Nanoparticles are often used to serve as drug delivery systems to improve the therapeutic efficacy of some hydrophobic drugs. In this work, PEG and peptide-modified titanium phosphate nanoparticles (TiP-PEG/peptide) were synthesized to enhance the drug delivery efficacy of tirucalla-8,24-diene-3β,11β-diol-7-one (KS-01), a major bioactive and hydrophobic component extracted from Euphorbia kansui . This drug delivery system with a loading efficiency of about 29.8 mg KS-01/1 g TiP-PEG/peptide exerted a significantly lower cell viability rate of MCF-7 than free KS-01, indicating that these carriers can effectively increase the therapeutic efficacy by improving its water solubility. Moreover, according to the fluorescence intensity of FAM which can be generated by caspase-3 cleaving DEVD-embedded peptide, the caspase-3 level could be determined and the therapeutic efficacy could be visualized in real time. TiP-PEG/peptide nanocarriers were constructed to enhance hydrophilic drug delivery efficiency and determine real-time therapeutic efficacy according to the fluorescence intensity of FAM triggered by caspase-3.