Small molecular nanomedicines made from a camptothecin dimer containing a disulfide bond

Abstract

A small molecular camptothecin (CPT) dimer could self-assemble into stable nanoparticles in aqueous solution, which was characterized by TEM and DLS. These nanomedicines could be internalized by cancer cells as revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, and indicated high cellular proliferation inhibition toward HeLa and HepG2 cells with low IC₅₀ values and reduction-responsive cytotoxicity towards HeLa cells. The feasible assembly method and outstanding properties of CPT–NPs provide an alternative approach for exploring new nanomedicines for cancer therapy.