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Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Polymalic Acid-based Nano Biopolymers for Targeting of Multiple Tumor Markers: An Opportunity for Personalized Medicine?
Published on: June 13, 2014
Multiple Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Through Gambogic Acid-Loaded Mesoporous Polydopamine
Jiaqi Liu1,2, Hongmei Liu1, Shan Huang3
1Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Pharmacy, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610072, China.
Abstract:
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous subtype of breast cancer, characterized by aggressiveness and high recurrence rate. As monotherapy provides limited benefit to TNBC patients, combination therapy emerges as a promising treatment approach. Gambogic acid (GA) is an exceedingly promising anticancer agent. Nonetheless, its application potential is hampered by low drug loading efficiency and associated toxic side effects. To overcome these limitations, using mesoporous polydopamine (MPDA) endowed with photothermal conversion capabilities is considered as a delivery vehicle for GA. Meanwhile, GA can inhibit the activity of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) to enhance the photothermal effect. Herein, GA-loaded MPDA nanoparticles (GA@MPDA NPs) are developed with a high drug loading rate of 75.96% and remarkable photothermal conversion performance. GA@MPDA NPs combined with photothermal treatment (PTT) significantly inhibit the tumor growth, and effectively trigger the immunogenic cell death (ICD), which thereby increase the number of activated effector T cells (CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells) in the tumor, and hoist the level of immune-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-6, and TNF-α). The above results suggest that the combination of GA@MPDA NPs with PTT expected to activate the antitumor immune response, thus potentially enhancing the clinical therapeutic effect on TNBC.
Insights
This study developed Gambogic acid-loaded mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticles (GA@MPDA NPs) for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Combination therapy with photothermal treatment (PTT) shows potential for activating antitumor immunity.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is aggressive and recurrent, with limited monotherapy benefits.
- Combination therapy is a promising strategy for TNBC treatment.
- Gambogic acid (GA) shows anticancer potential but faces challenges with drug loading and toxicity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel drug delivery system for GA to overcome its limitations.
- To investigate the efficacy of GA-loaded mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticles (GA@MPDA NPs) combined with photothermal treatment (PTT) for TNBC.
- To evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of the combination therapy.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of GA-loaded MPDA nanoparticles (GA@MPDA NPs) with high drug loading and photothermal conversion capabilities.
- In vitro and in vivo evaluation of GA@MPDA NPs combined with PTT on TNBC models.
- Assessment of tumor growth inhibition, immunogenic cell death (ICD) induction, and immune cell activation (CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells).
- Measurement of immune-inflammatory cytokine levels (IFN-γ, IL-6, TNF-α).
Main Results:
- GA@MPDA NPs achieved a high drug loading rate (75.96%) and excellent photothermal conversion.
- The combination of GA@MPDA NPs and PTT significantly inhibited tumor growth in TNBC models.
- The treatment effectively triggered ICD and enhanced the activation of effector T cells and immune-inflammatory cytokines.
Conclusions:
- GA@MPDA NPs serve as an effective delivery vehicle for GA, overcoming its limitations.
- The combination of GA@MPDA NPs with PTT demonstrates significant therapeutic potential for TNBC by activating antitumor immune responses.
- This approach offers a promising strategy for enhancing the clinical efficacy of TNBC treatment.
