The Kinetics of Calcein Release from Mixed Targeted Liposomes Using Ultrasound

Abstract

Site-specific delivery of chemotherapeutics using actively targeted-stimuli-responsive liposomes is a promising approach to enhance the therapeutic efficiency of anti-cancer drugs while reducing the associated undesirable side effects. Recently, the co-functionalization of liposomes has shown interesting results in enhancing cellular uptake; however, such systems suffer from stability issues. This study proposes mixing calcein-loaded liposomes decorated with different ligands, namely estrone and Herceptin, to treat breast cancer. We investigated the low-frequency ultrasound-mediated release of calcein from the synthesized liposomes (control, estrone-modified, Herceptin-modified, and mixed estrone and Herceptin liposomes at different volume fractions). The results showed that the release increased as the power density increased and that estrone-conjugated liposomes achieved the highest release under all test conditions.