Polymeric Nanoparticle-Mediated Delivery of Oncolytic Measles Virus for Targeted Therapy in Cervical Cancer

Abstract

In the current study, a live attenuated oral measles virus (OMV) strain was utilized to create a polymeric, ligand-based nanoformulation (NF) aimed at improving cervical cancer treatment. 0.25 ml OMV was encapsulated within thiolated chitosan and coated with hyaluronic acid using ionic gelation. Characterization revealed a small particle size and cationic zeta potential. functional moieties in the NF were verified through FTIR and XRD. SEM analysis showed spherical, smooth particles with a crystalline nature. The virus exhibited a sustained release over 72 hours, and the titer was calculated at 2.98 × 10⁷ TCID50/ml, showing syncytia formation by day 5 post-infection. virus-encapsulated nanoparticles were tested against HeLa cells at varying multiplicities of infection (0.5 to 20), with IC50 values of 4.7 for OMV-NPs and 3.39 for the naked vaccine. Growth inhibition was observed after 3 days, confirmed by the cytotoxicity assay in cancer cells. This study concluded that the developed oncolytic measles virus nanoparticles provided effective, targeted, and sustained delivery, demonstrating significant anticancer potential at lower doses.