Folate and CD44 Receptors Dual-Targeting Hydrophobized Hyaluronic Acid Paclitaxel-Loaded Polymeric Micelles for Overcoming Multidrug Resistance and Improving Tumor Distribution

The drug efflux mediated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp) transporter is one of the important factors responsible for multidrug resistance (MDR), and then the efficient intracellular drug delivery is an important strategy to overcome MDR of tumor cells. We describe and compare CD44 receptor single-targeting and folate (FA), CD44 receptors dual-targeting hyaluronic acid-octadecyl (HA-C18) micellar formulations to overcome MDR of tumor cells and to improve tumor distribution. In comparison with Taxol solution, the cytotoxicity of paclitaxel (PTX) loaded in HA-C18 and FA-HA-C18 micelles against drug-resistant tumor cells was improved significantly because of the increased intracellular delivery by active receptor-mediated endocytosis. Compared with the single-targeting micelles, dual-targeting micelles possessed better MDR-overcoming performance. Pharmacokinetic study demonstrated HA-C18 and FA-HA-C18 PTX-loaded micelles possessed much longer circulation and moderately larger AUC than Taxol solution. Above all, the tumor distribution in MCF-7 tumor-bearing mice of PTX encapsulated in HA-C18 and FA-HA-C18 micelles were 2.8 and 4.0 times higher than that of Taxol solution. It was concluded that dual-targeting FA-HA-C18 micelles demonstrate excellent MDR-overcoming ability and improved tumor distribution, and provide a novel effective nanoplatform for anticancer drug delivery in cancer chemotherapy. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.