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Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Using In Vitro Live-cell Imaging to Explore Chemotherapeutics Delivered by Lipid-based Nanoparticles
Published on: November 1, 2017
RBC-derived vesicles as a systemic delivery system of doxorubicin for lysosomal-mitochondrial axis-improved cancer
Shu-Hui Wu1, Chia-Chu Hsieh1, Szu-Chun Hsu2
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanomedicine, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 35053, Taiwan.
Introduction:
Chemotherapeutic drugs are the main intervention for cancer management, but many drawbacks impede their clinical applications. Nanoparticles as drug delivery systems (DDSs) offer much promise to solve these limitations.
Objectives:
A novel nanocarrier composed of red blood cell (RBC)-derived vesicles (RDVs) surface-linked with doxorubicin (Dox) using glutaraldehyde (glu) to form Dox-gluRDVs was investigated for improved cancer therapy.
Methods:
We investigated the in vivo antineoplastic performance of Dox-gluRDVs through intravenous (i.v.) administration in the mouse model bearing subcutaneous (s.c.) B16F10 tumor and examined the in vitro antitumor mechanism and efficacy in a panel of cancer cell lines.
Results:
Dox-gluRDVs can exert superior anticancer activity than free Dox in vitro and in vivo. Distinct from free Dox that is mainly located in the nucleus, but instead Dox-gluRDVs release and efficiently deliver the majority of their conjugated Dox into lysosomes. In vitro mechanism study reveals the critical role of lysosomal Dox accumulation-mediated mitochondrial ROS overproduction followed by the mitochondrial membrane potential loss and the activation of apoptotic signaling for superior anticancer activity of Dox-gluRDVs.
Conclusion:
This work demonstrates the great potential of RDVs to serve a biological DDS of Dox for systemic administration to improve conventional cancer chemotherapeutics.
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