(221f) Protease Responsive and Biofunctional Peg Hydrogel Coated Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery Into Tumor Cells

Specific targeting of tumor cells is one of the main limitations in most drug based therapies such as cancer treatment. However, side effects and resistance of cancer drugs prevent efficient therapy. In order to address these challenges, specific drug targeting, high accumulation of drug in target tissues, and controlled drug release strategies could be useful. Recently, we have shown that RGDS-functionalized poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONPs) enhance accumulation and specific cellular uptake into cancer cells. In this study, we investigated coating of MIONP within covalently crosslinked PEG hydrogel functionalized with fibronectin derived RGDS and enzymatically degradable peptide sequences. MIONP coated within RGDS functional PEG hydrogel enhance specific internalization of the nanoparticles into cancer cells and maintain accumulation of nanoparticles around cancer tissue, and covalently bonded degradable sequence within PEG hydrogel structure allows for the release of therapeutic molecules within the coating towards their surrounding as a result of high expression of catalytic enzymes by cancer cells. This multifunctional property of coating may be useful for efficient therapy avoiding undesirable side effects and resistance of the drug. The approach developed here may also be useful for simultaneous imaging of cancer tissues and for targeted drug delivery into the tumor site.