Dual drug co-encapsulation of bevacizumab and pemetrexed clocked polymeric nanoparticles improves antiproliferative activity and apoptosis induction in liver cancer cells

Abstract

Nanoparticle (NP) enabled approaches have been employed for chemotherapeutic administration due to their capacity to regulate drug release and reduce side effects. Additionally, these methods can use several drugs concurrently and impede the proliferation of cancer cells that have developed resistance. Bevacizumab (BVZ) and pemetrexed (PEM) have demonstrated encouraging outcomes in the treatment and management of cancer. This work investigates the combined antiproliferative efficacy of BVZ and PEM co-loaded PLGA-PEG NPs (BVZ/PEM@PLGA-PEG NPs) against HepG2 liver cancerous cells. The BVZ/PEM@PLGA-PEG exhibited a sphere-shaped and consistent nanosized distribution. In addition, we evaluated the potential mechanisms for inhibiting cell growth and inducing apoptosis using DAPI staining and cell cycle study. The beneficial combined antiproliferative activity and the apoptosis pathway were detected in the HepG2 cells exposed to BVZ/PEM@PLGA-PEG NPs. Our study determined that the combinational drug treatment of BVZ/PEM@PLGA-PEG NPs has a significant effect on promoting the effectiveness of liver cancer treatment.