Development of a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive nanoplatform for targeted oral cancer therapy

In this study, for effective oral cancer therapy, a new targeted and ROS-triggered drug delivery nanoplatform was developed from the RGD-PEG-TK-PLGA polymer, in which the ROS-responsive TK containing linker was connected with PEG and PLGA. RGD in the drug delivery system (DDS) presented here was used to target cancer cells. This new nanoplatform shows high stability, good targeting ability, excellent ROS sensitivity and excellent biocompatibility. Loaded with DOX and alpha-TOS, the formulated nanoparticles (NPs) demonstrate much better cellular uptake efficiency and higher inhibition performance towards the oral tongue Cal27 cancer cell line. In vivo anticancer evaluation indicates that DOX and alpha-TOS loaded RGD-PEG-TK-PLGA NPs have no toxicity to mice and showed significantly improved therapeutic efficacy against tumors. Therefore, this polymeric NP platform presents great potential as a new DDS for oral cancer chemotherapy.