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7256044 
Journal Article 
Development of Folate-Functionalized PEGylated Zein Nanoparticles for Ligand-Directed Delivery of Paclitaxel 
Soe, ZC; Ou, W; Gautam, M; Poudel, K; Kim, BK; Pham, LM; Phung, CD; Jeong, JH; Jin, SG; Choi, HG; Ku, SK; Yong, CS; Kim, JO; , 
2019 
1 
Pharmaceutics
EISSN: 1999-4923 
MDPI 
BASEL 
English 
31671569 
WOS:000502280100014 
In this study, we investigated the active targeted delivery of a hydrophobic drug, paclitaxel (PTX), via receptor-mediated endocytosis by folate receptors expressed on cancer cells using a protein-based nanoparticle system. PTX was loaded on zein nanoparticles and conjugated with folate (PTX/Zein-FA) to estimate its chemotherapeutic efficacy in folate receptor-expressing KB cancer cells. PTX/Zein-FA nanoparticles were successfully developed, with a nanoparticle size of ~180 nm and narrow polydispersity index (~0.22). Accelerated release of PTX in an acidic environment was observed for PTX/Zein-FA. An in vitro cellular study of PTX/Zein-FAs in KB cells suggested that PTX/Zein-FA improved the cytotoxic activity of PTX on folate receptors overexpressed in cancer cells by inducing proapoptotic proteins and inhibiting anti-apoptotic proteins. In addition, PTX/Zein-FA exhibited anti-migratory properties and could alter the cell cycle profile of KB cells. A549 cells, which are folate receptor-negative cancer cells, showed no significant enhancement in the in vitro cellular activities of PTX/Zein-FA. We describe the antitumor efficacy of PTX/Zein-FA in KB tumor-bearing mice with minimum toxicity in healthy organs, and the results were confirmed in comparison with free drug and non-targeted nanoparticles.