High-density lipoprotein-biomimetic nanocarriers for glioblastoma-targeting delivery: the effect of shape.

Rational design of the physicochemical properties of nanocarriers can optimize their pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, intratumoral penetration and tumor bioavailability. In particular, particle shape is one of the crucial parameters that can impact the circulation time, tumor accumulation and tumor cell internalization of nanocarrier. Biomimetic reconstituted high-density lipoprotein (rHDL), by mimicking the endogenous shape and structure of high-density lipoprotein, has been indicated as a promising tumor-targeting nanoparticulate drug delivery system whereas the effect of shape on tumor-targeting efficiency has not been fully evaluated. Herein, we constructed apolipoprotein E-based biomimetic rHDL in both discoidal form (d-rHDL) and spherical form (s-rHDL), and compared their efficiency in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)-targeting delivery. s-rHDL showed higher cellular association in GBM cells especially at a high exposure dosage or after a long incubation time. Moreover, it exhibited deeper penetration in 3D GBM spheroids in vitro and higher accumulation at the GBM site in vivo with the GBM-targeting accumulation of s-rHDL increased by 73% when compared with that of d-rHDL at 24 h post-injection. The findings collectively indicated that s-rHDL might serve as a more efficient nanocarrier for glioblastoma-targeting drug delivery.