Preparation and characterization of stearic acid-pullulan nanoparticles

For a new anticancer drug carrier, we synthesized 4 compositions of amphiphilic stearic acidconjugated pullulan (SAP) and characterized them with FT-IR spectroscopy. Crystalline changes were verified by x-ray diffraction patterns before and after synthesis of the SAP conjugate. SAP nanoparticles were prepared by a diafiltration method, and the fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene showed particle self-assembly in water. SAP nanoparticles were spherical in TEM photos, and particle size ranged between 200 approximately 500 nm in photon correlation spectroscopy. Release of all-trans-retinoic acid from the SAP nanoparticles was maintained over 5 weeks. For further study in vivo, we tested the cytotoxicity of SAP nanoparticles using an MTT assay, and cytotoxicity was augmented as the molar mass of stearic acid increased in human liver carcinoma HepG2 cells. Therefore, SAP nanoparticles might be a promising longterm delivery carrier for hydrophobic therapeutic molecules with the appropriate composition.