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Article

Functionalized Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Microgels in Tumor Targeting and Drug Delivery

by
Simona Campora
1,2,†,
Reham Mohsen
3,4,†,
Daniel Passaro
1,
Howida Samir
3,
Hesham Ashraf
3,
Saif El-Din Al-Mofty
5,
Ayman A. Diab
3,
Ibrahim M. El-Sherbiny
5,
Martin J. Snowden
4 and
Giulio Ghersi
1,2,*
1
Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 16, 90128 Palermo, Italy
2
Abiel s.r.l, c/o Arca Incubatore di Imprese, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 16 (Floor-2), 90128 Palermo, Italy
3
Faculty of Biotechnology, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts, Cairo 12451, Egypt
4
School of Science, University of Greenwich, Gillingham, Chatham, Kent, Canterbury ME4 4TB, UK
5
Center of Materials Science, Zewail City of Science and Technology, 6th October City, Giza 12588, Egypt
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Gels 2021, 7(4), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels7040203
Submission received: 6 October 2021 / Revised: 27 October 2021 / Accepted: 4 November 2021 / Published: 8 November 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Nanogels)
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Abstract

Over the past several decades, the development of engineered small particles as targeted and drug delivery systems (TDDS) has received great attention thanks to the possibility to overcome the limitations of classical cancer chemotherapy, including targeting incapability, nonspecific action and, consequently, systemic toxicity. Thus, this research aims at using a novel design of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) p(NIPAM)-based microgels to specifically target cancer cells and avoid the healthy ones, which is expected to decrease or eliminate the side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs. Smart NIPAM-based microgels were functionalized with acrylic acid and coupled to folic acid (FA), targeting the folate receptors overexpressed by cancer cells and to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (Dox). The successful conjugation of FA and Dox was demonstrated by dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-VIS analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Furthermore, viability assay performed on cancer and healthy breast cells, suggested the microgels’ biocompatibility and the cytotoxic effect of the conjugated drug. On the other hand, the specific tumor targeting of synthetized microgels was demonstrated by a co-cultured (healthy and cancer cells) assay monitored using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Results suggest successful targeting of cancer cells and drug release. These data support the use of pNIPAM-based microgels as good candidates as TDDS.
Keywords: p(NIPAM)-co-5%AA microgels; folic acid; doxorubicin; cancer p(NIPAM)-co-5%AA microgels; folic acid; doxorubicin; cancer
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MDPI and ACS Style

Campora, S.; Mohsen, R.; Passaro, D.; Samir, H.; Ashraf, H.; Al-Mofty, S.E.-D.; Diab, A.A.; El-Sherbiny, I.M.; Snowden, M.J.; Ghersi, G. Functionalized Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Microgels in Tumor Targeting and Drug Delivery. Gels 2021, 7, 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels7040203

AMA Style

Campora S, Mohsen R, Passaro D, Samir H, Ashraf H, Al-Mofty SE-D, Diab AA, El-Sherbiny IM, Snowden MJ, Ghersi G. Functionalized Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Microgels in Tumor Targeting and Drug Delivery. Gels. 2021; 7(4):203. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels7040203

Chicago/Turabian Style

Campora, Simona, Reham Mohsen, Daniel Passaro, Howida Samir, Hesham Ashraf, Saif El-Din Al-Mofty, Ayman A. Diab, Ibrahim M. El-Sherbiny, Martin J. Snowden, and Giulio Ghersi. 2021. "Functionalized Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Microgels in Tumor Targeting and Drug Delivery" Gels 7, no. 4: 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels7040203

APA Style

Campora, S., Mohsen, R., Passaro, D., Samir, H., Ashraf, H., Al-Mofty, S. E.-D., Diab, A. A., El-Sherbiny, I. M., Snowden, M. J., & Ghersi, G. (2021). Functionalized Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Microgels in Tumor Targeting and Drug Delivery. Gels, 7(4), 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels7040203

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