Developing targeted therapeutic and diagnostic drug delivery systems will result in the enhanced accumulation of chemotherapeutic drugs and a built-in contrast agent in the tissue/organ of interest at levels that permit efficient therapy and sensitive detection. In this study, we developed hyaluronic acid (HA)-coated iron oxide nanoparticles and investigated its utility in targeted cancer chemotherapy and diagnosis, as well as its application for the early detection of atherosclerotic plaques. We exploited the interaction between HA and its main receptor, CD44, that is overexpressed on cancer cells and on atherosclerotic plaques. We successfully deployed the HA-coated iron oxide nanoparticles as targeted nanocarriers of doxorubicin for cancer chemotherapy and as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents for cancer diagnosis. In addition, two in vivo models (rabbit and mouse) have been established to assess the utility of the HA-coated iron oxide nanoparticles as targeted imaging agents for the early diagnosis of atherosclerosis, thus offering a platform for potential customized therapy using novel anti-atherosclerotic drugs.

Hyaluronic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted therapy and diagnosis of cancer and atherosclerosis

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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