Synthesis of calcium phosphate-binding liposome for drug delivery

Metastatic bone disease is often associated with bone pain, pathologic fractures, and nerve compression syndromes. Effective therapies to inhibit the progression of bone metastases would have important clinical benefits. Therefore, we developed a novel calcium phosphate-binding liposome for a bone-targeting drug delivery system. We synthesized a novel amphipathic molecule bearing a bisphosphonate (BP) head group to recognize and bind to hydroxyapatite (HA). We demonstrated that the liposomes having BP moieties show high affinity for HA. Doxorubicin-loaded liposomes adsorbed on the surface of HA significantly reduce the number of viable human osteosarcoma MG63 cells. This shows that the liposomes can be excellent carriers for anticancer drugs because they specifically target bone tissue. This calcium phosphate-binding liposome system could be used with many drugs for bone-related diseases such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple myeloma. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.