A novel cholchicine/gadolinium-loading tubulin self-assembly nanocarrier for MR imaging and chemotherapy of glioma

Abstract

To enhance therapeutic efficiency and reduce side effects in drug delivery and chemotherapy, imaging-guided nanoscale systems have attracted tremendous attention in recent decades. In this study, we developed a novel method to fabricate a novel colchicine/gadolinium-loaded tubulin self-assembly nanocarrier (Col-Gd@Tub NC) for imaging-guided chemotherapy of glioma. The Col-Gd@Tub NCs were spontaneously formed via tubulin self-assembly, subsequently were functionalized by colchicine and gadolinium element. These resultant Col-Gd@Tub NCs with a diameter of 45 nm exhibited uniform particle size distribution and favorable stability without leakage of gadolinium in water. Meanwhile, the introduction of gadolinium endowed Col-Gd@Tub NCs with highly T1-weighted MRI performance in vitro. After tail vein injection, Col-Gd@Tub NCs exhibited excellent MRI contrast capability and relatively long circulation time (~12 h), finally cleared out from bladder. More significantly, the binding colchicine still exerted anti-tumor effect after Col-Gd@Tub NCs were uptook by tumor cells. These results show that the Col-Gd@Tub NCs may be served as a versatile nanoscale platform for integration of biomedical imaging probe and therapeutic molecules for tumor therapy.