Development of nanocarriers for effective
drug delivery to molecular targets in
tumor cells is a real problem in modern pharmaceutical chemistry. In the present work we used
pristine C60 fullerene as a platform for delivery of anticancer
drug doxorubicin (Dox) to its
biological targets. The formation of a complex of
C60 fullerene with Dox (C60 + Dox) is described and physico-chemical characteristics of such complex are presented. It was found that Dox conjugation with
C60 fullerene leads to 1.5-2-fold increase in Dox toxicity towards various human tumor cell lines, compared with such effect when the
drug is used alone. Cytotoxic activity of C60 + Dox complex is accompanied by an increased level of cell produced
hydrogen peroxide at early time point (3 h) after its addition to cultured cells. At the same time, cellular production of
superoxide radicals does not change in comparison with the effect of Dox alone. Cytomorphological studies have demonstrated that C60 + Dox complexes kill
tumor cells by apoptosis induction. The results of in vivo experiments using
Lewis lung carcinoma in mice confirmed the enhancement of the Dox toxicity towards
tumor cells after
drug complexation with
C60 fullerene. The effect of such complex towards
tumor-bearing mice was even more pronounced than that in the in vitro experiment with targeting human
tumor cells. The
tumor volume decreased by 2.5 times compared with the control, and an average life span of treated animals increased by 63% compared with control. The obtained results suggest a great perspective of application of C60 + Dox complexes for
chemotherapy of malignant
tumors.