Co-Loading of Cisplatin and Methotrexate in Nanoparticle-Based PCL-PEG System Enhances Lung Cancer Chemotherapy Effects

Since the anticancer drugs exhibited a variety of inhibitory mechanisms in cancer cells, the use of two or more anticancer drugs may have excellent therapeutic effects, particularly in drug-resistant tumors. In this study, the efficient entrapment of two clinically used single-agent drugs, Cisplatin (CDDP) and Methotrexate (MTX) is reported against lung cancer cell lines. Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles perform to be a favorable environment-responsive controlled drug release system. MTX@CDDP were simultaneously encapsulated into the biodegradable poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL) modified poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) copolymer. The spherical nanoparticle was identified via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Additionally, the antitumor activity and apoptosis induction of designed duel drug-loaded vectors were assessed against A549 cell lines by qRT-PCR, MTT assay, and DAPI staining. The nanoformulation loaded with MTX@CDDP statistically reduced the cell activity of A549. The results indicate that MTX@CDDP-loaded PCL-PEG nanoparticles can be further utilized for treating non-small-cell lung cancer as a promising therapeutic approach.