Curcumin-loaded redox response of self-assembled micelles for enhanced antitumor and anti-inflammation efficacy

At present, it has become evident that inflammation plays a critical role in tumor growth; meanwhile, chemotherapeutic agents using nanocarriers have been suggested as a promising strategy in cancer treatment. In this study, novel redox-responsive micelles were prepared from monomethoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)-chitosan-S-S-hexadecyl (C₁₆-SS-CS-mPEG). These micelles were able to carry and deliver drugs into tumor cells. To serve as a control, monomethoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)-chitosan-C-C-hexadecyl (C₁₆-CC-CS-mPEG) was developed in a similar fashion to that used to yield C₁₆-CC-CS-mPEG without a redox-responsive disulfide bond. The cellular uptake mechanisms of both micelles were determined. The efficient intracellular drug release from micelles in MCF-7 cells was further confirmed. Results indicated that curcumin (Cur) could rapidly form C₁₆-SS-CS-mPEG@ Cur micelles when exposed to reducing agents and efficaciously enhance intracellular accumulation. The cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that C₁₆-SS-CS-mPEG@Cur exhibited satisfactory cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells. Anti-inflammation assay results indicated that C₁₆-SS-CS-mPEG@Cur treatment significantly downregulated tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) expression and showed good anti-inflammatory effects in tumor microenvironment. Most importantly, antitumor effects in vivo showed satisfactory therapeutic effects with C₁₆-SS-CS-mPEG@Cur. Hence, C₁₆-SS-CS-mPEG@Cur micelles can be useful in tumor therapy.