PEI-derivatized fullerene drug delivery using folate as a homing device targeting to tumor

Fullerene (C60) has shown great potential in drug delivery. In this study, firstly, amine-functionalized C60 (C60-NH2) was achieved by introducing ethylenediamine onto the surface of C60, and then PEI-derivatized C60 (C60-PEI) was performed via a cationic polymerization of aziridine on the surface of C60-NH2; FT-IR and TGA results verified the structure of water-soluble C60-PEI. C60-PEI was encapsulated with folic acid (FA) through an amide linker, and then docetaxel (DTX) was conjugated to C60-PEI-FA and obtained a drug delivery system, C60-PEI-FA/DTX. Compared with free DTX, the tumor targeting drug delivery could efficiently cross cell membranes, lead to more apoptosis and afford higher antitumor efficacy in a cultured PC3 cells in vitro. Furthermore, compared with free DTX in an in vivo murine tumor model, C60-PEI-FA/DTX afforded higher antitumor efficacy without obvious toxic effects to normal organs owing to its prolonged blood circulation and 7.5-fold higher DTX uptake of tumor, demonstrating that C60-PEI-FA/DTX may be promising for high treatment efficacy with minimal side effects in future therapy.