Evaluation of Cytocompatibility and Drug Release Kinetics of Whey Protein Microspheres for Trans-arterial Chemoembolization
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world with rising incidence, and transarterial embolization (TACE) is the most offered therapy for intermediate and advanced HCC. TACE is a minimally invasive interventional radiology approach to treat liver cancer via embolization of the hepatic artery paired with chemotherapeutic administration to shut down the blood supply and cause tumor necrosis. Embolic agents used clinically have limitations (such as an inability to degrade, poor ability to load a variety of drugs, and a requirement of extra processing to achieve desired bioactivity) that I aim to address here by investigating whey protein- based hydrogel formed into microspheres. Due to the globular protein structure of whey, it has potential to load a broader variety of drugs and has a potential for tuning the drug release profile, requires little processing due to its existing bioactivity and native amino acid side chains, and can degrade safely in a temporally tunable manner. I investigated the specific cell/gel interaction using the whey protein material. The microbeads were found to be non-cytotoxic and the material was able to support cell growth indicating the presence of cell-binding motifs on the surface. I also investigated the drug loading and release capabilities of the microspheres using doxorubicin, a small-molecule chemotherapeutic and found that the drug-release profile of the microbeads is similar to that of other microsphere embolic agents.