Encapsulation of Cu(II) Terpyridine Complexes into Polymeric Nanoparticles for Enhanced Anticancer Therapy

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases worldwide. One of the most commonly applied therapeutic techniques to combat this disease is chemotherapy. Despite its success, the majority of clinically applied chemotherapeutic agents are associated with strong side effects and drug resistance. To overcome this limitation, much research efforts are devoted toward the development of new anticancer agents. Among the most promising class of compounds, Cu(II) complexes have emerged. Despite their strong cytotoxic effect, these agents are typically associated with low water solubility, low stability, and poor tumor selectivity. To overcome these limitations, herein, we report on the encapsulation of a promising Cu(II) terpyridine complex with the Pluronic F-127/Poloxamer-407 polymeric carrier into nanoparticles. Besides overcoming the pharmacological drawbacks, the nanoparticles were able to eradicate human breast adenocarcinoma monolayer cells as well as challenging multicellular tumor spheroids at nanomolar concentrations.