Bioinspired Drug Delivery Carrier for Enhanced Tumor-Targeting in Melanoma Mice Model

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Oncology

Background:

• Doxorubicin (DOX) is a first-line chemotherapy drug with non-specific distribution, leading to side effects on normal tissues.
• Platelets exhibit potential in recognizing and interacting with tumor cells, suggesting their use in drug delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a platelet-based drug delivery system (Tf-P-DOX) for targeted delivery of Doxorubicin (DOX).
• To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tf-P-DOX in treating solid tumors.

Main Methods:

• Loading DOX into platelet cytoplasm and modifying platelet surface with transferrin (Tf-P-DOX).
• Assessing DOX encapsulation efficiency and cellular uptake in B16F10 cells.
• Evaluating anti-tumor effects and tissue toxicity in vivo using tumor-bearing mice models.
• Analyzing caspase 9 and caspase 3 protein expression levels.

Main Results:

• Optimal DOX encapsulation efficiency of 64.9% achieved at 0.05 mM DOX concentration.
• Tf-P-DOX demonstrated enhanced cellular uptake and intracellular drug accumulation in B16F10 cells.
• In vivo studies showed Tf-P-DOX accumulation in tumor sites, leading to significant tumor growth inhibition and favorable tumor tissue morphology.
• Tf-P-DOX exhibited no significant adverse effects on normal tissues and increased caspase 9 and caspase 3 expression.

Conclusions:

• Platelets can be effectively repurposed as carriers for targeted delivery of Doxorubicin (DOX).
• The Tf-P-DOX system shows promise for efficient targeting and treatment of solid tumors with enhanced efficacy and safety.
• This platelet-based drug delivery strategy offers a novel approach to overcome the limitations of conventional chemotherapy.