Multifunctional cubic liquid crystalline nanoparticles for chemo and photodynamic synergistic cancer therapy

With the aim of engineering multifunctional nanoparticles useful for cancer therapy, a diketopyrrolopyr-role-porphyrin based photosensitizer was here conjugated to a block copolymer (Pluronic F108), andused to stabilize in water lipidic cubic liquid crystalline nanoparticles (cubosomes), also loaded with theantineoplastic agent docetaxel. The physicochemical characterization by SAXS, DLS, and cryo-TEMdemonstrated that the formulation consisted of cubosomes, about 150 nm in size, possessing a bicontin-uous cubic structure (space groupPn3m). The cellular imaging experiments proved that these nano-particles localized in lysosomes and mitochondria, while cytotoxicity tests evidenced a slight but signifi-cant synergistic effect which, after irradiation, increased the toxicity induced by docetaxel alone, allowingfurther reduction of cell viability.