Synergistic anticancer effects achieved by co-delivery of TRAIL and paclitaxel using cationic polymeric micelles

Cationic micellar nanoparticles self‐assembled from a biodegradable amphiphilic copolymer have been used to deliver human TRAIL and paclitaxel simultaneously. Polyplexes formed between paclitaxel‐loaded nanoparticles and TRAIL are stable with a size of ≈180 nm and a zeta potential at ≈75 mV. Anticancer effects and apoptotic pathway mechanisms of this drug‐and‐protein co‐delivery system are investigated in various human breast cancer cell lines with different TRAIL sensitivity. The co‐delivery nanoparticulate system induces synergistic anti‐cancer activities with limited toxicity in non‐cancerous cells. An advantage of this co‐delivery is a significantly higher anti‐cancer effect as compared to free drug and protein formulations.