Preparation and evaluation of doxorubicin-luminespib co-loaded multivesicular liposomes.

A combinational therapeutic system that simultaneously administrates various pathways is preferred for anti-cancer treatment. In the present study, we successfully constructed a co-delivery system, multivesicular liposomes (MVLs) co-encapsulating doxorubicin (DOX) and luminespib (AUY922). A simple and accurate dual-wavelength spectrophotometric method was established for the determination of DOX and AUY922 in liposomal formulation. MVL-loading drugs were prepared by a multi-emulsion solvent evaporation method, which exhibited excellent physicochemical properties, such as particle size of 3-8 μm and high entrapment efficiency above 95% for DOX and 73% for AUY922. The synergetic cytotoxic effect for these two drugs was evaluated in MDA-MB-231 cells. The in vitro antitumor studies demonstrated the superior anti-proliferation activity of DOX and AUY922 with a combination index of 0.43, indicating a great synergistic effect. The experimental data suggested that combinational use of DOX and AUY922 within liposomes could be an effective way to develop efficient treatments of cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]