Background: A great number of therapeutic limitations, such as chemoresistance, high dosage, and long treatments, are still present in cancer therapy, and are often followed by side effects such as infections, which represent the primary cause of death among patients. Methods: We report pH- and enzymatic-responsive hybrid clustered nanoparticles (HC-NPs), composed of a PCL polymeric core loaded with an anticancer drug, such as Imatinib Mesylate (IM), and coated with biodegradable multilayers embedded with antibacterial and anticancer baby-ship silver NPs, as well as a monoclonal antibody for specific targeting of cancer cells conjugated on the surface. Results: The HC-NPs presented an onion-like structure that serially responded to endogenous stimuli. After internalization into targeted cancer cells, the clustered nanoparticles were able to break up, thanks to intracellular proteases which degraded the biodegradable multilayers and allowed the release of the baby-ship NPs and the IM loaded within the pH-sensible polymer present inside the mothership core. In vitro studies validated the efficiency of HC-NPs in human chronic leukemic cells. This cellular model allowed us to demonstrate specificity and molecular targeting sensitivity, achieved by using a combinatorial approach inside a single nano-platform, instead of free administrations. The combinatory effect of chemotherapic drug and AgNPs in one single nanosystem showed an improved cell death efficacy. In addition, HC-NPs showed a good antibacterial capacity on Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Conclusions: This study shows an important combinatorial anticancer and antimicrobial effect in vitro.
Keywords: anticancer and antibacterial activity; combinatorial therapy; nanoparticles.