Peptide-lipid nanoconstructs act site-specifically towards glioblastoma growth impairment.

Ultra-small nanostructured lipid carriers (usNLCs) have been hypothesized to promote site-specific glioblastoma (GB) drug delivery. Envisioning a multitarget purpose towards tumor cells and microenvironment, a surface-bioconjugated usNLC prototype is herein presented. The comeback of co-delivery by repurposing atorvastatin and curcumin, as complementary therapy, was unveiled and characterized, considering colloidal properties, stability, and drug release behavior. Specifically, the impact of the surface modification of usNLCs with hyaluronic acid (HA) conjugates bearing the cRGDfK and H7k(R2)2 peptides, and folic acid (FA) on GB cells was sequentially evaluated, in terms of cytotoxicity, internalization, uptake mechanism and hemolytic character. As proof-of-principle, the biodistribution, tolerability, and efficacy of the nanocarriers were assessed, the latter in GB-bearing mice through magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. The hierarchical modification of the usNLCs promotes a preferential targeting behavior to the brain, while simultaneously sparing the elimination by clearance organs. Moreover, usNLCs were found to be well tolerated by mice and able to impair tumor growth in an orthotopic xenograft model, whereas for mice administered with the non-encapsulated therapeutic compounds, tumor growth exceeded 181% in the same period. Relevant biomarkers extracted from metabolic spectroscopy were ultimately identified as a potential tumor signature.

Biomimeting ultra-small lipid nanoconstructs for glioblastoma treatment: A computationally guided experimental approach.

Ultra-small nanostructured lipid carriers (usNLCs) are stable, biocompatible and biodegradable colloidal systems, claiming a broad set of advanced features suitable for cancer drug delivery. To unleash their potential in glioblastoma research and therapy, we have developed an usNLC prototype able to co-encapsulate atorvastatin calcium and curcumin, as repurposed drugs previously screened from molecular dynamics simulations. The novelty not only relies on the drug repositioning approach, but also on a robust computational methodology utilized for formulation optimization, under the umbrella of multivariate analysis and full factorial designs. A coating procedure with red blood cell membranes is ultimately hypothesized, aiming at integrating the biomimetic concept into usNLCs for glioblastoma therapeutics. The formulation composition and process parameters, that demonstrated a high-risk level for the final quality and performance of the usNLCs, include the solid:liquid lipid ratio, type and concentration of liquid lipids and surfactants, along with the type of production method. Particles with an average diameter of ca. 50 nm, and a polydispersity index lower than 0.3 were produced, exhibiting high stability, up-scalability, drug protection and sustained co-release properties, meeting the suitable critical quality attributes for intravenous administration. Also, a Taguchi design was successfully applied to optimizing usNLCs as cell membrane-coating technology.