PEG-Benzaldehyde-Hydrazone-Lipid Based PEG-Sheddable pH-Sensitive Liposomes: Abilities for Endosomal Escape and Long...

To fabricate an acid-cleavable PEG polymer for the development of PEG-cleavable pH-sensitive liposomes (CL-pPSL), and to investigate their ability for endosomal escape and long circulation.

PEG-benzaldehyde-hydrazone-cholesteryl hemisuccinate (PEG_B-Hz-CHEMS) containing hydrazone and ester bonds was synthesised and used to fabricate a dual pH-sensitive CL-pPSL. Non-cleavable PEGylated pH-sensitive liposome (pPSL) was used as a reference and gemcitabine as a model drug. The cell uptake and endosomal escape were investigated in pancreatic cancer Mia PaCa-2 cells and pharmacokinetics were studied in rats.

The CL-pPSL showed accelerated drug release at endosomal pH 5.0 compared to pPSL. Compared to pPSL, CL-pPSL released their fluorescent payload to cytosol more efficiently and showed a 1.4-fold increase in intracellular gemcitabine concentration and higher cytotoxicity. In rats, injection of gemcitabine loaded CL-pPSL resulted in a slightly smaller V_d (149 ± 27 ml/kg; 170 ± 30 ml/kg) and shorter terminal T_1/2 (5.4 ± 0.3 h; 5.8 ± 0.6 h) (both p > 0.05) but a significantly lower AUC (p < 0.01), than pPSL, due to the lower PEGylation degree (1.7 mol%) which means a 'mushroom' configuration of PEG. A five-time increase in the dose with CL-pPSL resulted in a 11-fold increase in AUC and a longer T_1/2 (8.2 ± 0.5 h).

The PEG-detachment from the CL-pPSL enhanced endosome escape efficiency compared with pPSL, without significantly compromising their stealth abilities.