Theranostics 2019; 9(22):6568-6586. doi:10.7150/thno.35353 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
3. Department of Ultrasound, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
4. Department of Oncology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
*These authors contributed equally to this work.
Targeted therapy via the patient-friendly oral route remains the holy grail of chemotherapy for cancer. Herein we report a yeast-derived platform for targeted oral delivery of cisplatin (CDDP) that is one of the most effective drugs for chemotherapy of various types of cancers.
Methods: The optimal conditions were first established to fabricate yeast microcapsules (YCs) with desirable loading capability. Then, CDDP-derived precursor nanoparticles (PreCDDP) were prepared and packaged into YC to produce orally deliverable PreCDDP/YC. The physiochemical properties, in vitro drug release profiles, in vitro antitumor activity, oral targeting capability, in vivo pharmacokinetics, and in vivo efficacy of the YC-based biomimetic delivery system were examined.
Results: YCs obtained under the optimized condition showed desirable loading efficiency for quantum dots that were used as a model nanocargo. In vitro experiments demonstrated rapid endocytosis and prolonged retention of YC in macrophages. By electrostatic force-mediated self-deposition, PreCDDP was efficiently loaded into YC. PreCDDP/YC showed potent cytotoxicity in different tumor cells, indicating that PreCDDP loaded in YC maintained its antitumor activity after intracellular release. As compared to CDDP and PreCDDP, orally administered PreCDDP/YC displayed significantly higher bioavailability. Post oral delivery, YC could accumulate in A549 human lung carcinoma xenografts in mice, achieving by monocyte/macrophage-mediated translocation via the lymphatic system. Through this targeting effect, orally administered PreCDDP/YC showed desirable efficacy in A549 xenograft-bearing mice, which was comparable to that of free CDDP administered by intravenous injection. Orally administered free CDDP, however, did not afford antitumor effects. Furthermore, oral treatment with PreCDDP/YC displayed better safety than free CDDP administered via the oral or intravenous route.
Conclusions: This biomimetic approach can serve as an effective strategy to develop targeted oral chemotherapies based on CDDP or its derivatives.
Keywords: cisplatin, nanoprecursor, yeast microcapsule, oral delivery, targeted tumor therapy