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Self‐assembled penetratin‐deferasirox micelles as potential carriers for hydrophobic drug delivery
Author(s) -
Goswami Dibakar,
Vitorino Hector Aguilar,
Machini M. Teresa,
Espósito Breno P.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
peptide science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.22672
Subject(s) - deferasirox , chemistry , micelle , drug , drug delivery , pharmacology , medicine , organic chemistry , thalassemia , aqueous solution
There has been a growing interest in the use of micelles with nanofiber geometry as nanocarriers for hydrophobic drugs. Here we show that the conjugate of penetratin, a cell‐penetrating peptide (CPP) with blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability, and deferasirox (DFX), a hydrophobic iron chelator, self‐assembles to form micelles at a very low concentration (∼15 mg/L). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was determined, and the micelles were used for solubilizing curcumin, a hydrophobic anti‐neurodegenerative drug, for successful delivery across RBE4 cells, a BBB model. Transmission Electron Microscope images of the curcumin‐loaded micelles confirmed the formation of nanofibers. These results indicate the potential of CPP‐drug conjugates for use as nanocarriers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 104: 712–719, 2015.