Magnetic field-assisted selective delivery of doxorubicin to cancer cells using magnetoliposomes as drug nanocarriers.

Magnetoliposomes are promising candidates for the development of selective drug delivery systems in the treatment of cancer. Those nanosystems were tested as carriers of a strong chemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin, which is used against breast cancer. Herein, the magnetic properties of hydrophobic iron oxide nanoparticles located exclusively in the lipid bilayer were used to release this drug from the magnetoliposomes. The cytotoxic activity of the nanostructures against the normal and cancer cell lines was determined on the basis of cells viability measurement after incubation with different concentrations of these nanomaterials. In the same way, the effectiveness of killing cancer cells in combination with exposure to magnetic field was also evaluated. These experiments confirmed that the nanostructures composed of liposomes and magnetic nanoparticles are not cytotoxic. However, magnetoliposomes loaded with doxorubicin were effective and selective in reducing the viability of human breast tumor cell lines. In this paper, we demonstrated the promising application of the studied magnetoliposomes as carriers of doxorubicin released under the influence of magnetic field in tumor cells.

Magnetoliposomes as Potential Carriers of Doxorubicin to Tumours.

Studies on magnetoliposomes (MLUV) as potential carriers for magnetic-field-dependent drug delivery are presented. The systems were formed with hydrophobic superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) confined within the bilayer of the liposomes. The nanomechanical properties of bilayer lipid membranes were evaluated and related to the amount of incorporated SPIONs. It was found that the presence of SPIONs in the lipid membrane leads to overall stiffening and increases morphological inhomogeneity, facilitating rupture of the MLUV membrane in a low-frequency alternating magnetic field (AMF). To verify the findings, doxorubicin release from MLUVs in the presence and absence of an AMF was measured. Under experimental conditions, drug release proceeds through MLUV rupture induced by mechanical vibration of SPIONs rather than through localized heating in the vicinity of the SPIONs.

Interactions of doxorubicin with organized interfacial assemblies. 1. Electrochemical characterization.

Doxorubicin is an anthracycline that has found wide use as a chemotherapeutic agent, with the primary target of its action being nuclear DNA. Despite the large body of knowledge on this family of compounds, the mechanism of doxorubicin penetration through the cellular or nuclear membrane remains understood to a limited extent. The plasma membrane acts as a barrier to the permeation of polar molecules, and this effect is mainly due to the hydrophobicity of membrane interior. The partitioning of DOX molecules into the lipid bilayer must thus be the basis for its passive transport across the biological membrane and therefore a key area of research activity lies in understanding how the structure of the anthracycline influences its interactions with amphiphilic interfaces. We have studied interactions between doxorubicin and Langmuir/Langmuir-Blodgett monomolecular films of octadecylamine (C18NH2), dihexadecylphosphate (DHP) and 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC), and DMPC bilayer films (Langmuir-Schaeffer) on a polycrystalline gold surface using ellipsometry, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and quartz crystal microbalance measurements. For all biomimetic films there is a substantial interaction between doxorubicin and the interface, and the extent of this interaction depends on the hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties of the film formed and its organization.

Monoolein Cubic Phase Gels and Cubosomes Doped with Magnetic Nanoparticles-Hybrid Materials for Controlled Drug Release.

Hybrid materials consisting of a monoolein lipidic cubic phase (LCP) incorporating two types of magnetic nanoparticles (NP) were designed as addressable drug delivery systems. The materials, prepared in the form of a gel, were subsequently used as a macroscopic layer modifying an electrode and, after dispersion to nanoscale, as magnetocubosomes. These two LCPs were characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), cross-polarized microscopy, magnetic measurements, and phase diagrams. The magnetic dopants were hydrophobic NPoleic and hydrophilic NPcitric, characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and their influence on the properties of the cubic phases was investigated. The removal of the anticancer drug, Doxorubicin (Dox) from the hybrid cubic phase gels was studied by electrochemical methods. The advantages of incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into the self-assembled lipid liquid crystalline phases include the ability to address the cubic phase nanoparticle containing large amounts of drug and to control the kinetics of the drug release.