Poly(2-oxazoline) micelles for co-delivery of paclitaxel and metronidazole benzoate for dual chemotherapeutic and antibacterial targeting in the tumor microenvironment.

Authors

Alyssa Holden, Hallie Hutsell, Liubov Palchak, Liyuan Luo, Jacob D Ramsey, Alexander V Kabanov

Published in

Biomedical microdevices. Volume 28. Issue 3. Aug 11, 2026. Epub Aug 11, 2026.

Abstract

Tumor-resident pathogenic bacteria can promote cancer progression and reduce chemotherapy efficacy, yet strategies to simultaneously target both tumor cells and intratumoral microbes remain limited. Here, we report a poly(2-oxazoline) micelle (POx) platform co-encapsulating paclitaxel (PTX) and metronidazole benzoate (MB) to achieve concurrent delivery of anticancer and antibacterial agents. The POx/PTX/MB micelles produced monodisperse populations with high drug loading efficiency and capacity and remained stable in physiological conditions. In vitro, the co-loaded formulation retained cytotoxic activity against two triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines and bactericidal activity against Fusobacterium nucleatum. POx/PTX/MB micelles were well-tolerated at pharmacologically relevant doses in a murine model. This work provides a feasible strategy to integrate antimicrobial therapy with chemotherapy, highlighting the potential of POx micelles as a versatile platform for targeting both cancer cells and tumor-associated pathogens. These findings support further development of combination chemotherapeutic-antimicrobial strategies for tumors harboring pathogenic bacteria.

PMID:
42579029
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Aug 2026.

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