Evodiamine encapsulated by hyaluronic acid modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 for tumor targeted therapy

Evodiamine (EVO), a natural bioactive compound extracted from Evodia rutaecarpa, shows therapeutic ability against malignant melanoma. However, the poor solubility and bioavailability of EVO limit its clinical application. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown excellent physical and chemical properties and are widely used as drug delivery systems. Among them, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is a research popular material because of its unique properties, such as hydrothermal stability, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and pH sensitivity. In this study, in order to load EVO, a drug carrier that hyaluronic acid (HA) modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is synthesized. This drug carrier has shown drug loading with 6.2 ± 0.6%, and the nano drugs (EVO@ZIF-8/HA) have good dispersibility. Owing to the decoration HA of EVO@ZIF-8, the potential of the nano drugs is reversed from the positive charge to the negative charge, which is beneficial to blood circulation in vivo. Furthermore, because the CD44-expressing in tumor cells is excessed, the endocytosis and accumulation of nano drugs in tumor cells are beneficial to improvement. Compared with free EVO, EVO@ZIF-8/HA has shown a significantly improved anti-tumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo. In summary, the drug carrier effectively addresses the challenges that are caused by the strong hydrophobicity and low bioavailability of EVO, thereby targeted tumor therapy of EVO can be achieved.