Hyaluronic acid grafted PLGA copolymer nanoparticles enhance the targeted delivery of Bromelain in Ehrlich’s Ascites Carcinoma

• We synthesized the hyaluronic acid grafted PLGA copolymer, which delivers the capacity to organize the self-assembled micelle type structures.
• The cellular uptake of these BL loaded HA-PLGA NPs was found out to be CD44 receptor mediated endocytosis as compared to less effective passive uptake of BL-PLGA NPs.
• BL-d(HA)-g-PLGA NPs have shown greater magnitude of cytotoxic than BL-PLGA NPs in in vivo model of Ehrlich’s ascites carcinoma.
• Our findings demonstrate the overall anti-cancer efficacy of BL-d(HA)-g-PLGA NPs was significantly higher as compared to BL-PLGA NPs and free BL as well.

Rapidly increasing malignant neoplastic disease demands immediate attention. Several dietary compounds have recently emerged as strong anti-cancerous agents. Among, Bromelain (BL), a protease from pineapple plant, was used to enhance its anti-cancerous efficacy using nanotechnology. In lieu of this, hyaluronic acid (HA) grafted PLGA copolymer, having tumor targeting ability, was developed. BL was encapsulated in copolymer to obtain BL-copolymer nanoparticles (NPs) that ranged between 140 to 281 nm in size. NPs exhibited higher cellular uptake and cytotoxicity in cells with high CD44 expression as compared with non-targeted NPs. In vivo results on tumor bearing mice showed that NPs were efficient in suppressing the tumor growth. Hence, the formulation could be used as a self-targeting drug delivery cargo for the remission of cancer.

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