‘In Vitro’, ‘In Vivo’ and ‘In Silico’ Investigation of the Anticancer Effectiveness of Oxygen-Loaded Chitosan-Shelled Nanodroplets as Potential Drug Vector

Purpose: Chitosan-shelled/decafluoropentane-cored oxygen-loaded nanodroplets (OLN) are a new class of nanodevices to effectively deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumoral cells. This study investigated their antitumoral effects ‘per se’, using a mathematical model validated on experimental data. Methods: OLN were prepared and characterized either in vitro or in vivo. TUBO cells, established from a lobular carcinoma of a BALB-neuT mouse, were investigated following 48 h of incubation in the absence/presence of different concentrations of OLN. OLN internalization, cell viability, necrosis, apoptosis, cell cycle and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were checked as described in the Method section. In vivo tumor growth was evaluated after subcutaneous transplant in BALB/c mice of TUBO cells either without treatment or after 24 h incubation with 10% v/v OLN. Results: OLN showed sizes of about 350 nm and a positive surface charge (45 mV). Dose-dependent TUBO cell death through ROS-triggered apoptosis following OLN internalization was detected. A mathematical model predicting the effects of OLN uptake was validated on both in vitro and in vivo results. Conclusions: Due to their intrinsic toxicity OLN might be considered an adjuvant tool suitable to deliver their therapeutic cargo intracellularly and may be proposed as promising combined delivery system.