Electrospun micelles/drug-loaded nanofibers for time-programmed multi-agent release

Abstract

Combined therapy with drugs of different therapeutic effects is an effective way in the treatment of diseases and damaged tissues or organs. However, how to precisely control the release order, dose, and time of the drugs using vehicles is still a challenging task. In this work, for the first time, a study to develop a nanoscale multi-drug delivery system based on polymer micelle-enriched electrospun nanofibers is presented. The multi-drug delivery system is achieved, first, by the fabrication of hydrophobic curcumin encapsulated micelles assembled from biodegradable mPEG-PCL copolymer and, second, by the blending of the micelle powder with hydrophilic doxorubicin in polyvinyl alcohol solution, followed by simply electrospinning this combination. Due to the different domains of the two drugs within the nanofibers, the release behaviors show a time-programmed release, and can be temporally and spatially regulated. In vitro tumor cell inhibition assay indicates that the delivery system possesses great potential in cancer chemotherapy.

Keywords: dual-agents; electrospinning; micelles; nanofibers; time-programmed.