Development of new self-assembling nanoparticles for the delivery of active agents for the treatment of tumors

The research activity done during the three years of my Doctorate was focused on the development of new self-assembling formulations based on nanotechnology for the delivery of active agents in tumors. In particular, the research activity was articulated on two main projects: 1. Design of self-assembling nanoparticles (NPs) functionalized with human transferrin for the delivery of zoledronic acid in brain tumors. 2. Development of multifunctional polymeric micelles for the co-delivery of an anti-survivin siRNA and Paclitaxel for the reversal of drug resistance in ovarian cancer. In both projects, we proposed and developed particularly promising approaches which combined in one “ultimate NP” several advantages. In particular, in all the cases, we developed “easy to obtain” NPs characterized by optimal physical proprieties, such as a high incorporation efficiency of the active agents and size suitable to use the NPs for cancer therapy. Interestingly, a significant inhibition of the cell growth and marked biological effects were observed in different cancer cells by using the developed NPs. Furthermore, the developed NPs elicited a significant inhibition of the tumor growth in xenografted animal models of different tumors superior compared to the one observed after treatment with free active agents.