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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