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Polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles conjugated with anti-EGF receptor antibody for targeted drug delivery to hepatocellular carcinoma


Aims: The aim of this study was to obtain adriamycin-loaded polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles conjugated with anti-EGF receptor antibody (PLNP-Mal-EGFR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) chemotherapy. Materials & methods: The nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy. The in vitro and in vivo distribution and anti-tumor activity of the nanoparticles were evaluated. Results & conclusion: PLNP-Mal-EGFR showed significantly enhanced cellular cytotoxicity against HCC cells overexpressing EGFR compared with nontargeted nanoparticles (polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles [containing DSPE-PEG-Mal] and polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles [containing DSPE-mPEG] combined with anti-EGFR Fab´). PLNP-Mal-EGFR and nontargeted nanoparticles could significantly reduce the proportion of side-population cells in HCC cells. The in vivo accumulation of PLNP-Mal-EGFR was obviously higher than that of nontargeted nanoparticles in SMMC-7721 HCC cells overexpressing EGFR. Notably, PLNP-Mal-EGFR showed significantly enhanced anti-tumor activity against HCC in vivo compared with nontargeted nanoparticles and free adriamycin. Therefore, PLNP-Mal-EGFR may serve as an effective therapeutic approach for HCC chemotherapy.

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