Radiolabeled Biodistribution of Expansile Nanoparticles: Intraperitoneal Administration Results in Tumor Specific Accumulation

Nanoparticle biodistribution in vivo is an essential component to the success of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems. Previous studies with fluorescently labeled expansile nanoparticles, or “eNPs”, demonstrated a high specificity of eNPs to tumors that is achieved through a materials-based targeting strategy. However, fluorescent labeling techniques are primarily qualitative in nature and the gold-standard for quantitative evaluation of biodistribution is through radiolabeling. In this manuscript, we synthesize ¹⁴C-labeled eNPs to quantitatively evaluate the biodistribution of these particles in a murine model of intraperitoneal mesothelioma via liquid scintillation counting. The results demonstrate a strong specificity of eNPs for tumors that lasts one to 2 weeks postinjection with an overall delivery efficiency to the tumor tissue of 30% of the injected dose which is congruent with prior reports of preclinical efficacy of the technology. Importantly, the route of administration is essential to the eNP’s material-based targeting strategy with intraperitoneal administration leading to tumoral accumulation while, in contrast, intravenous administration leads to rapid clearance via the reticuloendothelial system and low tumoral accumulation. A comparison against nanoparticle delivery systems published over the past decade shows that the 30% tumoral delivery efficiency of the eNP is significantly higher than the 0.7% median delivery efficiency of other systems with sufficient quantitative data to define this metric. These results lay a foundation for targeting intraperitoneal tumors and encourage efforts to explore alternative, nonintravenous routes, of delivery to accelerate the translation of nanoparticle therapies to the clinic.