Particle size was evaluated by intensity distribution. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) study was performed on a Nanoscope Multimode atomic force microscope (Veeco Instruments Inc., New York, USA). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image was obtained on a JEM 2100 transmission electron microscope (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan). The amount of drug in the supernatant was assayed using a high-performance
liquid chromatography (Waters Associates, Milford, MA, USA) system with the following conditions: stationary phase, Hypersill ODS column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm); Selleck Sapitinib mobile phase, potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (pH 4.5)-acetonitrile (88:12); elution flow rate, 1 mL/min; and detection wavelength, 303 nm. The drug-loading content was calculated according to the previous report [12]. In vitro stability tests PBS stability test against ionic strength and plasma SC79 stability test against protein adsorption were evaluated immediately after preparation and subsequently at regular intervals. Briefly, 5 mg of the lyophilized (MTX + PEG)-CS-NPs were suspended in PBS (pH 7.4) or 10% selleck (v/v) plasma/heparin in PBS and stored at 37°C for 120 h. The particle size was determined at 0, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h, respectively. In vitro drug release In vitro release of MTX from the (MTX + PEG)-CS-NPs
was evaluated by a dialysis method. The lyophilized (MTX + PEG)-CS-NPs suspended in 10% plasma (with or without isothipendyl the presence of crude proteases) were added into a dialysis bag (Mw = 6,000 to 8,000 Da) and immersed into the release medium at 37°C with agitation. At the predesigned time points, 2 mL of the release medium was completely withdrawn and subsequently replaced with the same volume of fresh PBS. For comparison, in vitro release of the free MTX was evaluated as a control. Cell culture HeLa cells were cultured in FA-deficient Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium
(DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. MC 3 T3-E1 cells were cultured in Minimum Essential Medium, Alpha Modified (α-MEM), under similar conditions. The two cell lines have different levels of FA receptor expression. In particular, HeLa cells (cancer cells) are FA receptor positive, and MC 3 T3-E1 cells (normal cells) are FA receptor negative. All of the cells were cultivated in a 5% CO2-humidified atmosphere at 37°C. In vitro cellular uptake To qualitatively investigate the cellular uptake of the PEG-CS-NPs, (FA + PEG)-CS-NPs or (MTX + PEG)-CS-NPs, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was conjugated to different formulations to prepare the FITC-PEG-CS-NPs, FITC-(FA + PEG)-CS-NPs or FITC-(MTX + PEG)-CS-NPs. HeLa cells were seeded at a density of 8 × 104 cells per well into 6-well plates with their specific cell culture medium. The cells were incubated at 37°C and 5% CO2 for 24 h.