Coating‐Sheddable CD44‐Targeted Poly(d ,l ‐lactide‐co ‐glycolide) Nanomedicines Fabricated by Using Photoclick‐Crosslinkable Surfactant

Poly(d ,l ‐lactide‐co ‐glycolide) (PLGA)‐based nanotherapeutics are intensively employed for the treatment of various diseases, though they frequently suffer from stability, selectivity, and drug release problems. Here, a facile fabrication of coating‐sheddable CD44‐targeted PLGA nanoparticles using photoclick‐crosslinkable hyaluronic acid‐graft ‐tetrazole (HA‐g ‐Tet) as a surfactant followed by photoclick reaction with l ‐cystine dimethacrylamide (MA‐Cys‐MA) (X‐PHS@NPs) for targeted delivery of docetaxel (DTX) to breast tumors in vivo is reported. X‐PHS@NPs exhibit strong blue fluorescence and a size of 109 nm. DTX‐loaded X‐PHS@NPs (DTX‐X‐PHS@NPs), while stable at physiological conditions (pH 7.4, 37 °C), release about 76.6% DTX under 10 m glutathione conditions. DTX‐X‐PHS@NPs are potent toward CD44‐overexpressing MCF‐7 human breast cancer cells with a low IC50 of 0.27 µg mL−1. Interestingly, X‐PHS@NPs reveal excellent tumor penetration ability and DTX‐X‐PHS@NPs induce significantly more effective inhibition of MCF‐7 human breast tumors in nude mice than free DTX. These coating‐sheddable CD44‐targeted PLGA nanoparticles provide an interesting platform for cancer chemotherapy.

S. Li, M. Qiu, J.K. Guo, Z.Y. Zhong*, and C. Deng*, Coating-Sheddable CD44-Targeted PLGA Nanomedicines Fabricated Using Photo-Click-Crosslinkable Hyaluronic Acid-graft-Tetrazole Conjugate as a Surfactant, Adv. Therapeutics 2020, 3, 1900160.