Nanoparticles generated by PEG-Chrysin conjugates for efficient anticancer drug delivery

• Polymeric nanoparticles generated by PEG-Chrysin conjugates were fabricated.
• π–π Stacking interaction within the DOX loaded nanoparticles was investigated.
• The nanoparticles with short mPEG1000 chains exhibited higher anticancer activity.
• The nanoparticle provides a new carrier for anticancer drug delivery.

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems promise the safety and efficacy of anticancer drugs. Herein, we presented a facile approach to fabricate novel nanoparticles generated by PEG-Chrysin conjugates for the delivery of anticancer drug doxorubicin. Chrysin was immobilized on the terminal group of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) to form mPEG-Chrysin conjugate. The conjugates were self-assembled into nanoparticles. Doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded in the nanoparticles. The self-assembly, drug release profiles, interactions between nanoparticle and drug, cellular uptake and in vitro anticancer activity of the DOX loaded nanoparticles were investigated. The results showed that the mean diameters of drug loaded nanoparticles were below 200 nm. Strong π–π stacking interaction was tested within the drug loaded nanoparticles. The drug release rate was closely related to the chain length of PEG, shorter PEG chain resulted faster release. The mPEG-Chrysin conjugate was non-toxic to both 3T3 fibroblasts and HepG2 cancer cells. The cellular uptake measurements demonstrated that the mPEG1000-Chrysin nanoparticles exhibited higher capability in endocytosis. The IC50 of drug loaded mPEG1000-Chrysin nanoparticles was 4.4 μg/mL, which was much lower than that of drug loaded mPEG2000-Chrysin nanoparticles (6.8 μg/mL). These nanoparticles provided a new strategy for fabricating antitumor drug delivery systems.

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