Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025
Anticancer Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy with Lung Cancer-Targeted Nanoparticles
Published on: December 1, 2016
Bacteria-Driven Tumor Microenvironment-Sensitive Nanoparticles Targeting Hypoxic Regions Enhances the Chemotherapy
Huan Shi1, Lan Chen2, Yanlin Liu1
1Department of Oncology, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Chemotherapy still plays a dominant role in cancer treatment. However, the inability of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs to reach the hypoxic zone of solid tumors significantly weakens their efficacy. Bacteria-mediated drug delivery systems can be an effective targeting strategy for improving the therapeutic outcomes in cancer. Anaerobic bacteria have the unique ability to selectively transport drug loads to the hypoxic regions of tumors.
Methods:
We designed a Bifidobacterium infantis (Bif)-based biohybrid (Bif@PDA-PTX-NPs) to deliver polydopamine (PDA)-coated paclitaxel nanoparticles (PTX-NPs) to tumor tissues.
Results:
The self-driven Bif@PDA-PTX-NPs maintained the toxicity of PTX as well as the hypoxic homing tendency of Bif. Furthermore, Bif@PDA-PTX-NPs significantly inhibited the growth of A549 xenografts in nude mice, and prolonged the survival of the tumor-bearing mice compared to the other PTX formulations without any systemic or localized toxicity.
Conclusion:
The Bif@PDA-PTX-NPs biohybrids provide a new therapeutic strategy for targeted chemotherapy to solid tumors.
Related Concept Videos
02:49Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
02:57Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
02:17The Tumor Microenvironment