Bacterial cellulose hydrogel loaded with lipid nanoparticles for localized cancer treatment

[Display omitted] •Cationic state of the Dox in NLCs determined drug release and in vitro efficacy.•NLCs with cationic and neutral Dox were loaded into bacterial cellulose (BC).•The hybrid BC-NCL-NH system was efficacious inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis.•BC-NLCs-NH eradicated the side effects of intratumorally administered Dox. The use of hybrid materials, where a matrix sustains nanoparticles controlling the release of the chemotherapeutic drug, could be beneficial for the treatment of primary tumors prior or after surgery. This localized chemotherapy would guarantee high drug concentrations at the tumor site while precluding systemic drug exposure minimizing undesirable side effects. We combined bacterial cellulose hydrogel (BC) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) including doxorubicin (Dox) as a drug model. NLCs loaded with cationic Dox (NLCs-H) or neutral Dox (NLCs-N) were fully characterized and their cell internalization and cytotoxic efficacy were evaluated in vitro against MDA-MB-231 cells. Thereafter, a fixed combination of NLCs-H and NLCs-N loaded into BC (BC-NLCs-NH) was assayed in vivo into an orthotopic breast cancer mouse model. NLCs-H showed low encapsulation efficiency (48%) and fast release of the drug while NLCs-N showed higher encapsulation (97%) and sustained drug release. Both NLCs internalized via endocytic pathway, while allowing a sustained release of the Dox, which in turn rendered IC50 values below of those of free Dox. Taking advantage of the differential drug release, a mixture of NLCs-N and NLCs-H was encapsulated into BC matrix (BC-NLCs-NH) and assayed in vivo, showing a significant reduction of tumor growth, metastasis incidence and local drug toxicities.