A type of brain-targeting nano-formulation and its anti-tumour effect in paediatric brain tumour cells

In this study, we grafted cholesterol with pullulan to synthesize hydrophobic pullulan(CHP). Three CHP polymers (CHP1, CHP2, and CHP3), with different degrees of substitution were designed by changing the feed ratio of cholesterol to pullulan. The 1H-NMR results showed that the hydrophobic substitutability of CHP1, CHP2, and CHP3 were calculated to be 8.26%, 5.67%, and 3.52%, respectively. The sizes of CHP1 NPs, CHP2 NPs, and CHP3 NPs were (118±7.9), (123±4.7) and (158±9.3) nm, respectively. The CHP NPs embedded with VCR and adsorbed Tween 80 (CHPT@VCR NPs). The results of microscale thermal imaging (MST) testing indicated the CHP-1 NPs with the highest degree of cholesterol substitution possessed the highest adsorption capacity for Tween 80. In vitro pharmacological studies were conducted in SJ-GBM2 cells, the results showed that the tumor cells inhibition rate and the cellular uptake rate of CHPT@VCR-1 NPs were the highest compared with CHPT@VCR-2 NPs and CHPT@VCR-3 NPs.