Novel Drug Delivery System Based on Docetaxel-Loaded Nanocapsules as a Therapeutic Strategy Against Breast Cancer Cells Sánchez Moreno, Paola Boulaiz Tassi, Houria Ortega Vinuesa, Juan Luis Peula-García, José Manuel Aránega Jiménez, Antonia Lipid nanoparticles Docetaxel Drug delivery Breast cancer In the field of cancer therapy, lipid nanocapsules based on a core-shell structure are promising vehicles for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs such as docetaxel. The main aim of this work was to evaluate whether docetaxel-loaded lipid nanocapsules improved the anti-tumor effect of free docetaxel in breast cancer cells. Three docetaxel-loaded lipid nanocapsules were synthesized by solvent displacement method. Cytotoxic assays were evaluated in breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cells treated by the sulforhodamine B colorimetric method. Cell cycle was studied by flow cytometry and Annexin V-FITC, and apoptosis was evaluated by using propidium iodide assays. The anti-proliferative effect of docetaxel appeared much earlier when the drug was encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles than when it was free. Docetaxel-loaded lipid nanocapsules significantly enhanced the decrease in IC50 rate, and the treated cells evidenced apoptosis and a premature progression of the cell cycle from G(1) to G(2)-M phase. The chemotherapeutic effect of free docetaxel on breast cancer cells is improved by its encapsulation in lipid nanocapsules. This approach has the potential to overcome some major limitations of conventional chemotherapy and may be a promising strategy for future applications in breast cancer therapy. 2013-10-21T09:17:54Z 2013-10-21T09:17:54Z 2012 journal article Sánchez-Moreno, P.; et al. Novel Drug Delivery System Based on Docetaxel-Loaded Nanocapsules as a Therapeutic Strategy Against Breast Cancer Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 13(4): 4906-4919 (2012). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/28494] 1422-0067 1661-6596 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/28494 10.3390/ijms13044906 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License MDPI