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Inhalable TPGS/DPPC Micelles Coloaded with Curcumin and Icariin for Targeted Lung Cancer Therapy

Jiang, C; Bai, R; Somavarapu, S; (2025) Inhalable TPGS/DPPC Micelles Coloaded with Curcumin and Icariin for Targeted Lung Cancer Therapy. ACS Omega , 10 (15) pp. 15400-15411. 10.1021/acsomega.5c00008. Green open access

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Abstract

Lung cancer, particularly NSCLC, poses a major therapeutic challenge due to drug resistance and the poor aqueous solubility of chemotherapeutic agents, limiting treatment efficacy. This study investigates inhalable micelles for the codelivery of curcumin (CUR) and icariin (ICA), two hydrophobic bioactive compounds with anticancer potential, as a targeted therapeutic approach for NSCLC. The optimized micellar formulation (9:1 TPGS/DPPC) yielded nanomicelles (∼18 nm) with high encapsulation efficiency (∼90%) and a zeta potential of −1.24 mV, demonstrating stability for pulmonary administration. In vitro cytotoxicity studies demonstrated enhanced anticancer activity of CUR- and ICA-loaded micelles against A549 lung cancer cells (IC50 = 3.0 μg/mL), lower than doxorubicin (30 μg/mL), suggesting enhanced cytotoxic potential. Additionally, DPPH assays confirmed that encapsulation preserved curcumin’s functionality. Aerosolization studies demonstrated a high fine particle fraction (67 ± 3%) and emitted fraction (95 ± 1.0%), confirming the micelles’ suitability for deep lung deposition and effective pulmonary drug delivery. These findings highlight the potential of CUR- and ICA-loaded micelles as an inhalable NSCLC treatment, requiring further preclinical investigation.

Type: Article
Title: Inhalable TPGS/DPPC Micelles Coloaded with Curcumin and Icariin for Targeted Lung Cancer Therapy
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.5c00008
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.5c00008
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Pharmaceutics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208042
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