Evaluation of Anti-Cancer Properties of Pegylated Ethosomal Paclitaxel on Human Melanoma Cell Line SKMEL- 3

Purpose: To prepare pegylated ethosomal Paclitaxel® by reverse phase evaporation technique, and evaluate its cytotoxic effect on SK-MEL-3 cell line.
Methods: Nanodrug was prepared by reverse phase evaporation technique. The characteristics of the nanoparticles were evaluated by a zetasizer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Drug loading and encapsulation efficiency as well as paclitaxel® release were determined spectrophotometerically at 227 nm while the cytotoxicity of the pegylated ethosomal nanoencapsulated Paclitaxel® was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay on SK-MEL-3 cell line.
Results: The mean diameter and zeta potential of drug-loaded pegylated ethosomal particles and blank pegylated ethosomes were 138.1 ± 2.7 nm and −13.1 mV, and 102.3 ± 2.1 nm and −19.2 mV, respectively, while drug loading and encapsulation efficiency were 2.82 ± 0.27 and 96 ± 1.27%, respectively. The drug release pattern indicates that the half-life (t1/2) of the nanodrug was approximately twice that of the free drug for both static and dynamic release. Toxicological results indicate approx. 4.5-fold cytotoxicity against SK-MEL-3 cell line compared with the free drug.
Conclusion: This study shows that pegylated ethosomal Paclitaxel® is significantly considerably more toxic than the free drug on SK-MEL-3 cell line, thus making it an potential alternative to the standard therapy. It is, however, necessary to evaluate the nanoformulation in vivo.

Keywords
Paclitaxel®; Ethosome; Reverse phase evaporation; Pegylated; Cytotoxicity; Nanoparticles; Drug release