Carboplatin delivery system based on poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether–cholesterol modified soy lecithin liposomes

Abstract Liposomes are well studied and proved to have enormous potential for carboplatin delivery in cancer treatment. However, to achieve an ideal liposome system with less leakage and controlled release for an effective delivery of carboplatin (CPT) to tumor sites is still in progress. In this study, poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-cholesterol (mPEG-Chol) was prepared and used as a component, together with soy lecithin and cholesterol, to synthesize liposomes through thin film hydration method. The particle size distribution of obtained system of mPEG-Chol modified soy lecithin liposomes (mPEG-Chol-SLP) was then reduced by sonication, followed by extrusion. The properties of these nanoparticles including particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and morphology were assessed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential measurement, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Using dialysis method as the in vitro tests, the drug loading and releasing efficiency were calculated with pre-determined formulas. The cytotoxicity in the human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) was evaluated through the cell proliferation assay WST-1. The results showed that CPT-loaded mPEG-Chol-SLP was spherical in shape with the average particle diameter and polydispersity index of 173.10 nm and 0.174, respectively. Moreover, the system was negatively charged, relatively colloidal stable, 70.49% for drug loading efficiency, and slowly released up to 48 h. In addition, the cytotoxicity data showed that mPEG-Chol-SLP was biocompatible nanocarrier and successfully reduced the toxicity of CPT. These results demonstrated that the obtained CPT-loaded mPEG-Chol-SLP reached one step closer to an ideal nanocarrier for CPT delivery.