Sustained release of drug formulations in buccal region of the oral cavity have been gaining popularity and medical acceptance worldwide. Major challenges for such patches are their biocompatibility, drug loading capacity, release efficiency, directionality of drug release and finally controlled time dependent biodegradation, which are yet to be handled efficiently.At this very end, we have prepared a novel polymer-graphene (PolyGraphene) based drug loaded membrane and packed them in natural polysaccharide based patches for addressing the above mentioned points. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was melted and admixed with graphene nanoplatelets (GRNP) via hydro-thermo-evaporation method to prepare membranes in presence or absence of therapeutic agents. Niclosamide, a FDA-approved anthelmintic used in the treatment of worm infections was selected as the therapeutic agent. It is also a known inhibitor for cancer stem-like cells via STAT-3 (Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription) inhibition pathway. Membrane loaded with niclosamide in PCL alone was prepared as control. These membranes were found to be more responsive in releasing the niclosamide at slightly acidic pH of 6.8 and time dependent manner where GRNP was the regulator of the drug release. These membranes were further tested for cell toxicity in representative human cell lines MD-MB231, MCF-7 and C32 cells by MTT and Trypan blue assays. Results indicated highly significant ability to inhibit the cell growth along with high percentage of cell death with niclosamide loaded patches. Agarose gel electrophoresis was able to confirm negligible leaching of niclosamide in gel material. Detailed membrane engineering protocols, characterization and biological studies will be presented.

PolyGraphene muco-adhesive patches for sustained delivery of STAT-3 inhibitors for anti stem-like cell therapy

248th National Meeting (2014)

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