Chitosan coated pH-responsive metal-polyphenol delivery platform for melanoma chemotherapy

The safe and effective drug delivery system is important for cancer therapy. Here in, we first constructed a delivery system Cabazitaxel(Cab)@MPN/CS between metal-polyphenol (MPN) and chitosan (CS) to deliver Cab for melanoma therapy. The preparation process is simple, green, and controllable. After introducing CS coating, the drug loading was improved from 7.56 % to 9.28 %. [email protected]/CS NPs released Cab continuously under acid tumor microenvironment. The zeta potential of [email protected]/CS NPs could be controlled by changing the ratio of [email protected] and CS solutions. The positively charged [email protected]/CS accelerate B16F10 cell internalization. After internalized, [email protected]/CS NPs could escape from lysosomes via the proton sponge effect. The permeability of CS promotes the penetration of [email protected]/CS to the deeper B16F10 tumor spheroids. In vivo results showed that [email protected]/CS NPs have a longer retention time in tumor tissues and significantly inhibit tumor growth by up-regulating TUNEL expression and down-regulating KI67 and CD31 expression. Thus, this delivery system provides a promising strategy for the tumor therapy in clinic.