A self-assembled nanoparticle platform based on poly(ethylene glycol)–diosgenin conjugates for co-delivery of anticancer drugs

Abstract

Diosgenin (DGN) is a steroidal saponin from a therapeutic herb. It is reported to be a kind of potential natural antitumor drug. However, clinical application of diosgenin in cancer therapy is limited due to undesirable pharmaceutical characteristics such as its consequently poor solubility and low bioavailability. Here we developed a nanoparticle platform based on poly(ethylene glycol)–diosgenin (mPEG–DGN) conjugates for co-delivery of anticancer drugs. Firstly, to improve the solubility and bioavailability of DGN, the amphiphilic conjugates mPEG–DGN were made by linking DGN with mPEG. Then they self-assembled stable nanoparticles to deliver another anticancer drug hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) by a simple nanoprecipitation method. The obtained nanoparticles possessed the appropriate size, high drug loading efficiency of diosgenin and HCPT, slow release of the drugs and high synergistic effects. Hence, the mPEG–DGN nanoparticle is a promising drug delivery system for cancer therapy.