Enhancing the receptor-mediated cell uptake of PLGA nanoparticle for targeted drug delivery by incorporation chitosan onto the particle surface

Cationic polymer chitosan (CS) and target ligand were both incorporated onto nanoparticles (NPs) to enhance the cell uptake by integration of electrostatic interaction and receptor-mediated internalization. CS and biotin-contained amphipathic polymer biotin–poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(lactic acid) (biotin–PEG–PLA) were simultaneously decorated on the poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs surface in one step during the o/w solvent evaporation procedure. The incorporation of CS increased the zeta potential of the NPs to positive value and showed little impacts on particle size and biotin density. Cell uptake was investigated in vitro using human hepatic carcinoma cell lines SMMC-7721. The CS and biotin co-decorated NPs (CS-B-NPs) presented significantly higher cell uptake than that of the mono biotin-decorated NPs (B-NPs). In acid environment, as CS-B-NPs are more positive charged, cell uptake of CS-B-NPs is further increased, which is 3.8-fold as much as that of the undecorated NPs (U-NPs) and 1.9-fold higher than that of B-NPs at pH 6.6. When either the ligand density was reduced within limited or the particle size was slightly increased, cell uptake of CS-B-NPs remained almost the same. The cell uptake mechanism study demonstrated that the internalization due to the electrostatic interaction would contribute more to the cell uptake when the internalization based on clathrin-mediated endocytosis and other ATP-dependent pathways were blocked. The co-decoration of CS and target ligand is an effective approach for improving the specific cell uptake of NPs.