Nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery to cancer stem cells and tumor

Abstract

Due to the drug resistance of cancer stem cells (CSCs), CSC-targeted delivery of multiple drugs in nanoparticle-based drug delivery system holds great potential for the destruction of the CSCs and Tumor. In this chapter, we describe the preparation of multi-layered pH-responsive polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) by multiple emulsifications to encapsulate multiple hydrophilic and hydrophobic theranostic agents for controlled and sequenced release. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is used for not only actively targeting the CSCs to reduce their drug resistance due to dormancy (i.e., slow metabolism), but also replacing the commonly used poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a stabilizing agent to synthesize the nanoparticles.