Targeted co-delivery of daunorubicin and cytarabine based on the hyaluronic acid prodrug modified liposomes

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women, and it was hard to prevent or diagnose at an early stage. Thus, it is imperative to develop advanced therapeutics for effective treatment. Herein, a targeted daunorubicin (DNR) and cytarabine (ara-C) co-delivery system was developed by modifying the ara-C loaded liposomes (LIP-ara-C) with the hyaluronic acid-DNR (HA-DNR) prodrugs. The co-assembled hybrid nanoparticles (HA-DNR/LIP-ara-C HNPs) exhibited good serum and storage stability with an average diameter of approximately 100 nm. By specifically binding to the CD44 receptors that overexpressed on cancer cells, these HNPs could be uptake via endocytosis and accumulate intracellularly, in which an optimized DNR and ara-C combination at a molar ratio of 1:5 could generate enhanced synergistic effects with reduced dose-related toxicity on cancer cells.