Drug release and solubility properties of two zeolitic metal-organic frameworks influenced by their hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown significant potential for drug delivery applications. However, there remains a scarcity of comprehensive research addressing the influence of surface properties of MOFs on drug release kinetics and drug solubility. This study focuses on examining the influence of MOFs hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity on the controlled release and solubility of drugs. To achieve this, we prepared drug-loaded nanoparticles through in situ synthesis and created a drug-MOF co-amorphous system using the ball milling technique. Under neutral conditions, the hydrophilic MOF-based drug delivery system demonstrated a comparatively slower drug release profile than its hydrophobic counterpart. This observation suggests that the hydrophilic system holds promise in mitigating drug side effects by enabling improved control over drug release. The implementation of hydrophobic MOFs in co-amorphous systems yields a more pronounced effect on enhancing solubility compared to hydrophilic MOFs. This study offers valuable insights for achieving optimal drug release kinetics and solubility by delicately manipulating surface properties of MOFs.

Targeted delivery of RGD-modified liposomes encapsulating both combretastatin A-4 and doxorubicin for tumor therapy: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) modified doxorubicin-loaded liposomes could improve anticancer effect, and vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) could induce a rapid and selective shutdown of the blood vessels of tumors. We propose that RGD-modified liposomes for co-encapsulation and sequential release of vascular disrupting agent combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) and cytotoxic agent doxorubicin (Dox) could enhance tumor inhibition responses. In this study, we encapsulated Dox and CA-4 in RGD-modified liposomes. The release rate of Dox was proved to be much slower than that of CA-4 in vitro. Flow cytometry and laser confocal scanning microscopy clearly showed that RGD-modification promoted intracellular uptake of liposomal drugs by B16/B16F10 melanoma tumor cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Cytotoxicity assay showed that the IC(50) of RGD-modified liposomes was lower than that of the corresponding unmodified liposomes. Therapeutic benefits were examined on B16F10 melanoma tumors subcutaneously growing in C57BL/6 mice. In vivo study demonstrated that RGD-modified liposomes exhibited the most pronounced tumor regression effect when both CA-4 and Dox were co-encapsulated. These results suggest that the targeted drug delivery system for co-encapsulation of vascular disrupting agents and anticancer agents may be a promising strategy for cancer treatment.