Superior Drug Delivery Performance of Multifunctional Bilosomes: Innovative Strategy to Kill Skin Cancer Cells for Nanomedicine Application

Ewelina Waglewska,1 Julita Kulbacka,2,3 Urszula Bazylinska1 1Department of Physical and Quantum Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland; 2Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland; 3State Research Institute Centre for Innovative Medicine, Department of Immunology and Bioelectrochemistry, Vilnius, LithuaniaCorrespondence: Urszula Bazylinska, Department of Physical and Quantum Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, Wroclaw, 50-370, Poland, Tel +48 713202183, Email urszula.bazylinska@pwr.edu.plPurpose: Numerous failures in melanoma treatment as a highly aggressive form of skin cancer with an unfavorable prognosis and excessive resistance to conventional therapies are prompting an urgent search for more effective therapeutic tools. Consequently, to increase the treatment efficiency and to reduce the side effects of traditional administration ways, herein, it has become crucial to combine photodynamic therapy as a promising therapeutic approach with the selectivity and biocompatibility of a novel colloidal transdermal nanoplatform for effective delivery of hybrid cargo with synergistic effects on melanoma cells.Methods: The self-assembled bilosomes, co-stabilized with L-α-phosphatidylcholine, sodium cholate, Pluronic® P123, and cholesterol, were designated, and the stability of colloidal vesicles was studied using dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, also provided in cell culture medium (Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium). The hybrid compounds – a classical photosensitizer (Methylene Blue) along with a complementary natural polyphenolic agent (curcumin), were successfully co-loaded, as confirmed by UV-Vis, ATR-FTIR, and fluorescent spectroscopies. The biocompatibility and usefulness of the polymer functionalized bilosome with loaded double cargo were demonstrated in