Curcumin and Osteosarcoma: Can Invertible Polymeric Micelles Help?

Abstract

Systematic review of experimental and clinical data on the use of curcumin in the treatment of osteosarcoma is presented. The current status of curcumin's therapeutic potential against bone cancer is analyzed in regard to using polymeric micelles (including recently developed invertible, responsive, micelles) as a platform for curcumin delivery to treat osteosarcoma. The potential of micellar assemblies from responsive macromolecules in a controlled delivery of curcumin to osteosarcoma cells, and the release using a new inversion mechanism is revealed.

Keywords: bone tumor treatment; curcumin delivery; invertible polymer micelles; micellar nanoassemblies.

Figure 1

Amphiphilic invertible polymer and micelle structures (A) and micellar self-assembly (B) in polar and nonpolar solvents (reprinted with permission from [128]. Copyright 2011, American Chemical Society).

Figure 2

Chemical structure and characteristics of the representative AIPs. D10 is made from dodecanedioic acid and polyethylene glycol with an average Mn 1000 g/mol (PEG-1000). S10 is based on PEG-1000 and sebacic acid. The subscripted numbers indicate the average molecular weight of the copolymerized PEG and polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) in the PEG-PTHF copolymers (reprinted with permission from [124], Copyright 2012, American Chemical Society).

Figure 3

Scheme of the inversion for D3 (DA—dodecanedioc acid moiety) (reprinted with permission from [125], American Chemical Society).

Figure 4

Osteosarcoma cell survival. MG63 osteosarcoma cells were treated with non-loaded micellar assemblies and micellar curcumin at different concentrations for 48 h (A); The effect of curcumin delivery on MG63 KHOS, LM7, and HOB cells at 72 h (B). Non-loaded micellar assemblies: I, III, V, VII; curcumin-loaded assemblies: II, IV, VI and VIII (from [126]).

Figure 5

Micellar curcumin uptake in bone cells; 20 μM non-loaded assemblies (I) and micellar curcumin (II–IV) were exposed to MG63 osteosarcoma cells and normal human osteoblasts (HOB) for 30 min (I, II); 1 h (III), and 2 h (IV) (from [126]).