Nanoparticle–dendrimer hybrid nanocapsules for therapeutic delivery

Abstract

Background: Nanocapsules can efficiently encapsulate therapeutic cargo for anticancer drug delivery. However, the controlled release of the payload remains a challenge for effective drug delivery. Materials & methods: We used dithiocarbamate-functionalized PAMAM dendrimer to cross-link the shell of arginine gold nanoparticles stabilized nanocapsule, and controlled the drug release from the nanocapsule. The ability of cross-linked nanocapsule to deliver hydrophobic paclitaxel to B16F10 cells was demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Results: Cross-linked nanocapsule possesses tunable stability and modular permeability, and can deliver paclitaxel with improved anticancer efficiency compared with free drug both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Dithiocarbamate chemistry provides a new tool to harness multifactorial colloidal self-assembly for controlled drug delivery for cancer therapy.