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A bifunctional hepatocyte-mitochondrion targeting nanosystem for effective astaxanthin delivery to the liver
Zheng Hua1, Xuedi Zhang2, Yannan Chen2
1Academy of Food Interdisciplinary Science, School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, Qinggongyuan 1, Ganjingzi District, Dalian 116034, Liaoning, China; National Engineering Research Center of Seafood, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, Liaoning, China; College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, China.
Abstract:
A bifunctional hepatocyte-mitochondrion targeting nanosystem was prepared for astaxanthin by conjugating lactobionic acid (LA) and triphenylphosphonium-modified 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin onto sodium alginate. Hepatocyte-targeting evaluation indicated that the fluorescence intensity of HepaRG cells treated with the bifunctional nanosystem increased 90.3%, which was greater than that (38.7%) of the LA-only targeted nanosystem. The Rcoloc was 0.81 for the bifunctional nanosystem in mitochondrion-targeting analysis, which was greater than that (0.62) of the LA-only targeted nanosystem. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) level of the astaxanthin bifunctional nanosystem treated group significantly reduced to 62.20%, lower than that of free astaxanthin (84.01%) and LA-only targeted group (73.83%). Mitochondrial membrane potential recovered 97.35% in the astaxanthin bifunctional nanosystem treated group while the LA-only targeted group recovered 77.45%. The accumulation of bifunctional nanosystem in liver increased by 31.01% compared to the control. These findings indicated that the bifunctional nanosystem was beneficial for astaxanthin delivery in the liver precision nutrition intervention.
