Design of polyaspartic acid peptide-poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (ε-caprolactone) nanoparticles as a carrier of hydrophobic drugs targeting cancer metastasized to bone

Treatment of cancer metastasized to bone is still a challenge due to hydrophobicity, instability, and lack of target specificity of anticancer drugs. Poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (ε-caprolactone) polymer (PEG-PCL) is an effective, biodegradable, and biocompatible hydrophobic drug carrier, but lacks bone specificity. Polyaspartic acid with eight peptide sequences, that is, (Asp)(8), has a strong affinity to bone surface. The aim of this study was to synthesize (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles as a bone-specific carrier of hydrophobic drugs to treat cancer metastasized to bone. (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy data showed that (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles (size 100 nm) were synthesized successfully. (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles did not promote erythrocyte aggregation. Fluorescence microscopy showed clear uptake of Nile red-loaded (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles by cancer cells. (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles did not show cytotoxic effect on MG63 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells at the concentration of 10–800 μg/mL. (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles bound with hydroxyapatite 2-fold more than PEG-PCL. Intravenously injected (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles accumulated 2.7-fold more on mice tibial bone, in comparison to PEG-PCL. Curcumin is a hydrophobic anticancer drug with bone anabolic properties. Curcumin was loaded in the (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL. (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL showed 11.07% loading capacity and 95.91% encapsulation efficiency of curcumin. The curcumin-loaded (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles gave sustained release of curcumin in high dose for >8 days. The curcumin-loaded (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles showed strong antitumorigenic effect on MG63, MCF7, and HeLa cancer cells. In conclusion, (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles were biocompatible, permeable in cells, a potent carrier, and an efficient releaser of hydrophobic anticancer drug and were bone specific. The curcumin-loaded (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles showed strong antitumorigenic ability in vitro. Therefore, (Asp)(8)-PEG-PCL nanoparticles could be a potent carrier of hydrophobic anticancer drugs to treat the cancer metastasized to bone.