Fabrication of epidermal growth factor functionalized polymeric poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles loaded SN-38 and perfluorocarbon for treatment and care: investigation of antiproliferative effects and apoptosis in cervical cancer cells

Patients with cervical cancer have a significant risk of tumor recurrence and metastasis. The discovery of effective treatments for cervical cancer is urgently needed. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) was recently discovered to offer a promising therapeutic drug carrier. Hence, we developed dual-loaded PLGA nanoparticles (NPs) as a drug carrier to combat this problem with current chemotherapeutic drugs for cervical cancer. We engineered PLGA NPs with epidermal growth factor (EGF) functionalization and co-loaded them with SN-38 and perfluorocarbon (PC) to treat cervical cancer selectively. Cell counting kit-8 test results reveal that newly fabricated NPs effectively induce cell proliferation in cervical cancer cells. Further, flow cytometry, Hoechst 33342 staining and acridine orange and propidium iodide staining were used to determine the apoptosis of SN38/PC@EGF-PLGA NPs in HeLa and CaSki cells. And the release was pH-dependent when tested in vitro. Cervical cancer cells took up targeted SN38/PC@EGF-PLGA NPs at a greater rate than untargeted NPs. Furthermore, HeLa and CaSki cells were more sensitive to apoptosis induction and cell viability suppression when exposed to SN38/PC@EGF-PLGA NPs than nontargeted NPs. The findings of this study improve the exploration of SN38/PC@EGF-PLGA NPs in the new development of effective drug candidates for highly invasive cervical cancer in future.