Polysialic acid and pluronic F127 mixed polymeric micelles of docetaxel as new approach for enhanced antitumor efficacy

<p>In our previous study, polysialic acid-octadecyl dimethyl betaine (PSA-BS18) was synthesized and modified to liposomal EPI. Preliminary experiments revealed that the PSA-BS18 was a potential material for targeting tumor site with superior curative effects. In this study, PSA-BS18 and Pluronic F127 (F127) mixed polymeric micelles encapsulated docetaxel (DTX) (FP/DTX) were prepared by a self-assembly method. The FP/DTX was found to have a diameter of 34.83 ± 0.50 nm with a narrow polydispersity, the entrapment efficiency was 99.12 ± 1.17%, and the drug loading efficiency of 1.40 ± 0.01%. The storage and dilution stability of FP/DTX was fine. <i>In vitro</i> release studies demonstrated that FP/DTX had delayed the drug release from the micelles. <i>In vitro</i> cytotoxicity assay on B16 cells presented that FP/DTX led to a stronger cytotoxic activity in comparison to F127 micelles based DTX (F127/DTX) and Tween80-based DTX (Taxotere^®). The <i>in vivo</i> imaging study showed that the accumulation of FP/DTX at tumor sites was more than F127/DTX. The <i>in vivo</i> antitumor activity of FP/DTX against B16 tumor xenograft model showed a significant higher inhibition and a lower toxicity compared with F127/DTX and Taxotere^®. Taken together, the results obtained above showed that PSA-BS18 and F127 mixed polymeric micelles may be a promising strategy for antitumor delivery of DTX.