In-vitro evaluation of MPA-loaded electrospun coaxial fiber membranes for local treatment of glioblastoma tumor cells

Abstract Core-sheath fibers containing a drug for brain tumor are reported. Mycophenolic acid(MPA), a FDA-approved immunosuppressant, has been demonstrated to inhibit several types of tumor cells growth. However, the effective serum MPA concentration for anti-tumor declines quickly in-vivo due to degradation in the liver, which hampers the development of MPA-based anti-tumor therapy. To overcome this issue, we have formed MPA-containing electrospun fiber membranes as local drug delivery vehicle and characterized MPA release profiles based on fiber composition and geometry. Coaxialfibers with poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL)/MPA core and PCL sheath provided a more sustained release than homogenous fibers. In particular, thicker PCL sheath with 1:10 ratio of sheath thickness to fiber diameter provides gradual release in an initial period and higher MPA release after refreshing of media. The host polymer for MPA has a significant effect on the MPA release, with PCL/MPA single fiber providing more sustained release than coaxialfibers with polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)/MPA core and PCL sheath. In-vitro glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor cell culture results show strong cell suppression effect by MPA-containing fiber membranes, with coaxialfiber membranes inhibiting GBM cell growth 3-5 × more than the single fiber membranes. This indicates that MPA-containing electrospun membranes have a promising potential for local treatment of GBM.