PREPARATION OF PLA-BASED NANOPARTICLES LOADED WITH SALINOMYCIN AND FOLIC ACID

Nowadays, the design of nanoscale devices for drug delivery is one of the most important goals in medicine and pharmaceutical technology. Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have received great attention since they usually contain an intrinsically stealthy surface, possess enhanced in vivo stability, can be prepared with diverse polymer structures and molecular weights, and they can be designed to incorporate drugs with different solubility, to target a solid tumor and to provide sustained/controlled drug release.1 Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most frequently used biodegradable and biocompatible polymer for drug delivery applications.2 Herein, we present novel PLAbased NPs, prepared by nanoprecipitation, loaded with Salinomycin, a traditional anticoccidial drug with promising anti-cancer and anti-cancer stem cell effects. In order to engineer the NPs surface with a targeting moiety, PLA has been functionalized with acetylenic moieties and subsequently coupled by click chemistry with a modified folic acid bearing an azido group.