Targeting Pancreatic Cancer Cells and Stellate Cells Using Designer Nanotherapeutics in vitro.

Targeted gemcitabine delivery systems containing mPEG-SH having molecular weights of 550 Da or 1000 Da demonstrated superior efficacy in reducing the viability of both PCCs and PSCs as compared to their non-targeted counterparts. EGFR-targeted pathway was further validated by pre-treating cells with C225 followed by determining cellular viability. Taken together, in our current study we have developed a PEGylated targeted nanoconjugate ACG44P1000 that showed enhanced selectivity towards pancreatic cancer cells and pancreatic stellate cells, among others, for gemcitabine delivery. We will investigate the ability of these optimized conjugates to inhibit desmoplasia and tumor growth in vivo in our future studies.