In vitro Evaluation of Antiproliferative Effects of Self-assembling Nanoemulsion of Paclitaxel on Various Cancer Cell Lines

Paclitaxel is routinely used in cancer chemotherapy to treat patients with ovarian, breast, lung, head and neck cancers. However, because of its low aqueous solubility, it’s been administered as a Cremophor EL and ethanol solution, which is associated with increased toxicity and high therapeutic dose requirements. The goal of the present study was to formulate paclitaxel into a self assembling nanoemulsion (SANE) and demonstrate the effects of paclitaxel SANE formulation on the inhibition of cell proliferation in breast (80 %), colon (60 %), and pancreatic cell lines (60 %) compared to blank nanoemulsion. In addition, nanoemulsions of paclitaxel with a mean particle size of 20 nm dramatically reduced zeta potential and showed up to 12 fold greater apoptosis in the PL-45 pancreatic cancer cell line compared to a blank nanoemulsion. In conclusion we have developed a SANE formulation of paclitaxel having a particle size of 20 nm which significantly inhibited cell proliferation, dramatically reduced zeta potential and increased apoptosis by 12-fold when compared to a blank and nanoemulsion, thus indicating the therapeutic potential for SANE as an anti-cancer drug delivery system.