In vitro and in vivo evaluation of methoxy polyethylene glycol-polylactide (MPEG-PLA) nanoparticles for small-molecule drug chemotherapy.

Methoxy polyethylene glycol-polylactide (MPEG-PLA) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by the nanoprecipitation method with particle size of 140+/-21nm in diameter and drug encapsulation efficiency of 87.6+/-3.1%. In vitro cytotoxicity of the drug formulated in the NPs was investigated with MCF-7 cancer cells in close comparison with that of Taxol((R)). The in vitro cytotoxicity with MCF-7 cells showed that the NP formulation could be 33.3, 10.7, 7.7 times more effective than Taxol((R)) after 24, 48, 72h culture at the same drug concentration of 1microg/ml. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) visualized cellular internalization of the coumarin 6-loaded MPEG-PLA NPs. The in vitro results were further confirmed by the in vivo pharmacokinetic analysis with SD rats. The total area-under-the-curve (AUC(0-infinity)), which determines the therapeutic effects of a dose, was found to be 29,600+/-1,690ng-h/ml for the NP formulation, which is 3.09 times of 9,570+/-1,480ng-h/l for Taxol((R)) with 10mg/kg dose i.v. injection. The half-life (t(1/2)) of the drug formulated in the NPs was found to be 18.80+/-3.14h, which is 2.75 times of 6.84+/-1.39h for Taxol((R)). The distribution volume at steady state for the drug loaded in the NPs was 7.21+/-2.17l/kg, which was 2.93 times of 2.46+/-1.41l/kg for Taxol((R)). Our proof-of-concept in vitro and in vivo valuation shows that our MPEG-PLA NP formulation could have great advantages versus the original drug in small-molecule drug chemotherapy as well as in various applications in nanomedicine.