Galactose engineered solid lipid nanoparticles for targeted delivery of doxorubicin

• Surface engineered solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) encapsulated with Doxorubicin (DOX) has been successfully synthesized.
• Cytotoxicity of DOX incorporated SLN was higher than plain drug solutions on A549 cells.
• The higher efficacy of DOX incorporated SLN related to marked uptake and accumulation in the cells.

The present investigation reports the preparation, optimization, and characterization of surface engineered solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) encapsulated with doxorubicin (DOX). Salient features such as biocompatibility, controlled release, target competency, potential of penetration, improved physical stability, low cost and ease of scaling-up make SLNs viable alternative to liposomes for effective drug delivery. Galactosylation of SLNs instructs some gratifying characteristic, which leads to the evolution of promising delivery vehicles. The impendence of lectin receptors on different cell surfaces makes the galactosylated carriers admirable for targeted delivery of drugs to ameliorate their therapeutic index. Active participation of some lectin receptors in immune responses to antigen overlaid the application of galactosylated carriers in delivery of antigen and immunotherapy for treatment of maladies like cancer. These advantages revealed the promising potential of galactosylated carriers in each perspective of drug delivery. The developed DOX loaded galactosylated SLNs formulation was found to have particle size 239 ± 2.40 nm, PDI 0.307 ± 0.004, entrapment efficiency 72.3 ± 0.9%. Higher cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and nuclear localization of galactosylated SLNs against A549 cells revealed higher efficiency of the formulation. In a nutshell, the galactosylation strategy with SLNs could be a promising approach in improving the delivery of DOX for cancer therapy.

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