Green-step assembly of low density lipoprotein/sodium carboxymethyl cellulose nanogels for facile loading and pH-dependent release of doxorubicin

In this study, a simple and green approach was developed to produce a novel nanogel via self-assembly of low density lipoproteins (LDL) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), to efficiently deliver doxorubicin (DOX) to cancer cells. Under optimal conditions, the stable nanogels were of spherical shape with an average diameter of about 90 nm, PDI < 0.3 and a zeta potential −35 mV. Furthermore, the cationic anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX) was effectively encapsulated into LDL/CMC nanogels with an exceptionally high encapsulation efficiency of ∼98%. The release of DOX from DOX-LDL/CMC nanogels was pH-dependent, and DOX was released at a quicker rate at pH 6.2 than at pH 7.4. Importantly, the DOX-LDL/CMC nanogels were shown to effectively kill cancer cells in vitro. The IC50 of the DOX-LDL/CMC nanogels in HeLa and HepG2 cells was approximately 2.45 and 1.72 times higher than that of free DOX. The slightly reduced antitumor efficacy was primarily due to the less cellular uptake of the DOX-LDL/CMC nanogels, which was confirmed by confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and flow cytometry analysis. The high DOX payload and pH-dependent drug release rendered LDL/CMC nanogels as an efficient carrier for doxorubicin and possibly be used for other cationic drugs in different biomedical applications.