Nanotechnology for cancer therapy: cytomechanical changes induced by drug-loaded carriers uptake by neoplastic cells.

Cancer is one of the pathology most studied in the research laboratories all over the world, however it remains nowadays one of the principal cause of death. The novel opportunities offered by the nanotechnologies have attracted great attention in cancer research. In particular, there is strong interest in the development of novel materials and tools based on biocompatible polymers for targeted drug delivery. The desired features of pharmaceutical drug delivery for intravenous administration are their small size, biodegradability, high content of a drug in a final preparation, prolonged circulation in the blood, and the ability to target required areas. These features are usually not met in a single multifunctional carrier. For these reasons we have compared efficacy of different type of carriers having complementary properties for pharmaceutical delivery in cancer therapy. Drug nano-colloids encapsulated by combination of layer by layer (LbL) techniques and ultrasonication, phytochemical encapsulated-artificial oleosomes and drug-loading clay nanotubes have been used for uptake by cancer cells. In this work we will report our most recent investigations on morphological and mechanical changes induced by cargo carriers in cancer cells by Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM). Analyses of visco-elastic response of neoplastic cells induced by cargo-carrier (i.e. phytochemical-loaded oleosomes, anti-neoplastic drug-loaded nanocolloids and nanotubes) uptake has been carried out by a combination of high resolution optical and scanning force microscopy techniques . Elasticity, which is considered a relevant marker of vitality and neoplastic invasiveness of cancer cells, has been quantified by Force Mapping Mode. The Young's modulus of living treated cells is significantly modified in a time- and drug-carrier concentration-dependent manner as a consequence of modifications in cytoskeletal and contractile filament organization observed by selective fluorescent stainings.