The aim of the work reported here was to develop lipid-coated multifunctional nanocomposites composed of drugs and nanoparticles for use in cancer therapy. We incorporated thermosensitive phospholipids onto the surface of anisotropic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to further enhance drug delivery, with possible additional applications for in vivo imaging and photothermal cancer therapy. Lipid-coated nanohybrids loaded with the drug docetaxel (DTX) were prepared by a thin-film formation, hydration, and sonication method. Nanoparticles and their composites were characterized using particle-size analysis, zeta potential measurements, transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, demonstrating successful loading of DTX into the lipid bilayer on the surface of the gold nanoparticles. Initial in vitro studies using breast-cancer (MCF-7) and melanoma (B16F10) cell lines demonstrated that the drug-containing nanocomposites at equivalent drug concentrations caused significant cytotoxicity compared to free DTX. Differential flow cytometry analysis confirmed the improved cellular uptake of lipid-coated nanocomposites. Our preliminary results show that DTX-loaded anionic lipid-coated gold nanorod (AL_AuNR_DTX) and cationic lipid-coated gold nanoparticle (CL_AuNP_DTX) possess effective tumor cell-suppression abilities and can therefore be considered promising chemotherapeutic agents. Further evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of these hybrid nanoparticles combined with external near-infrared photothermal treatment is warranted to assess their synergistic anticancer actions and potential bioimaging applications.
Keywords: anticancer; docetaxel; drug-containing nanocomposites; gold nanorods; thermosensitive lipids.