Discriminated effects of thiolated chitosan-coated pMMA paclitaxel-loaded nanoparticles on different normal and cancer cell lines

The aim of the present work was to prepare and characterize poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles coated by chitosan–glutathione conjugate so as to encapsulate insoluble anticancer drugs. Nanoparticles were synthesized through radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate. Paclitaxel (PTX), a model anticancer drug, was encapsulated in nanoparticles with a maximal encapsulation efficiency of 98.27%. These nanoparticles showed sustained in vitro release of the incorporated PTX (75% of the loaded dose was released in 10 days). All nanoparticles had positive charge and were spherical, with a size range of about 130–250 nm. The PTX-loaded nanoparticles showed cytotoxicity for NIH 3T3 and T47D breast carcinoma cells, along with no cytotoxicity for two colon cell lines (HT29, Caco2).From the Clinical EditorThe aim of this work was to prepare and characterize poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles coated by chitosan–glutathione conjugate in an effort to encapsulate Paclitaxel as a model of insoluble anticancer drugs. These nanoparticles showed sustained in vitro drug release.