Active Targeting of Sorafenib: Preparation, Characterization, and In Vitro Testing of Drug‐Loaded Magnetic Solid Lipid Nanoparticles

• DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201500235
• Publication Date: 2015-06-04T03:23:32Z
• Authors: Agostina Grillone; Eugenio Redolfi Riva; Alessio Mondini; Claudia Forte; Lucia Calucci; Claudia Innocenti; Cesar de Julian F...; Valentina Cappello; Mauro Gemmi; Stefania Moscato; Francesca Ronca; Rodolfo Sacco; Virgilio Mattoli; Gianni Ciofani
• Keywords: Drug targeting; Niacinamide; HepG2; HepG2; drug targeting; magnetic nanoparticles; solid lipid nanoparticles; sorafenib; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Solid lipid nanoparticles; Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; 02 engineering and technology; Humans; Magnetite Nanoparticles; Cell Proliferation; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; Drug Carriers; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; Phenylurea Compounds; Liver Neoplasms; Dextrans; Hep G2 Cells; Sorafenib; Lipids; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; 3. Good health; Magnetic nanoparticles; 0210 nano-technology

Sorafenib is an anticancer drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hepatocellular and advanced renal carcinoma. The clinical application of sorafenib is promising, yet limited by its severe toxic side effects. The aim of this study is to develop sorafenib‐loaded magnetic nanovectors able to enhance the drug delivery to the disease site with the help of a remote magnetic field, thus enabling cancer treatment while limiting negative effects on healthy tissues. Sorafenib and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are encapsulated in solid lipid nanoparticles by a hot homogenization technique using cetyl palmitate as lipid matrix. The obtained nanoparticles (Sor‐Mag‐SLNs) have a sorafenib loading efficiency of about 90% and are found to be very stable in an aqueous environment. Plain Mag‐SLNs exhibit good cytocompatibility, whereas an antiproliferative effect against tumor cells (human hepatocarcinoma HepG2) is observed for drug‐loaded Sor‐Mag‐SLNs. The obtained results show that it is possible to prepare stable Sor‐Mag‐SLNs able to inhibit cancer cell proliferation through the sorafenib cytotoxic action, and to enhance/localize this effect in a desired area thanks to a magnetically driven accumulation of the drug. Moreover, the relaxivity properties observed in water suspensions hold promise for Sor‐Mag‐SLN tracking through clinical magnetic resonance imaging.