Investigation of thermo-sensitive amphiphilic micelles as drug carriers for chemotherapy in cholangiocarcinoma in vitro and in vivo

Cholangiocarcinoma is an epithelial cancer of the bile ducts with poor prognosis and, in recent years, a rapidly increasing incidence. In this study, nano-sized thermo-sensitive micelles were investigated as drug carriers to improve chemotherapy in cholangiocarcinoma. Thermo-sensitive amphiphilic block copolymer, P-(N,N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-hydroxymethylacrylamide)-b-caprolactone P-(NIPAAm-co-NHMAAm)-b-PCL] with lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at about 38 °C was synthesized. Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded micelles were prepared by dialysis method. The micelles exhibited a sustained and temperature-dependent DOX release. Toxicity of the blank micelles for human cholangiocarcinoma (QBC939) cells was minimal both in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, the DOX-loaded micelles effectively inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of QBC939 cells in vitro (p < 0.05) and inhibited tumor growth in nude mice by 21.49%. These results indicated that thermo-sensitive amphiphilic micelles are a promising and effective drug carrier, and show potential for improving chemotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma.