CD44 Targeting Mediated by Polymeric Nanoparticles and Combination of Chlorine TPCS2a-PDT and Docetaxel-Chemotherapy for Efficient Killing of Breast Differentiated and Stem Cancer Cells In Vitro

Cancers

Elisa Gaio¹  Francesca Moret¹  Elena Reddi¹  Fabiana Quaglia²  Claudia Conte²  Diletta Esposito² 

[1] Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy;Drug Delivery Laboratory, Department of Pharmacy, University of Napoli Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy;

关键词: photodynamic therapy;    chemotherapy;    combination therapy;    cancer stem cells;    targeted nanoparticles;    hyaluronic acid;    mammospheres;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers12020278

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The presence of rare but highly tumorigenic cancer stem cells (CSCs) within the tumors is recognized as one of the major reasons of failure of conventional chemotherapies, mainly attributed to the development of drug resistance and increasing metastatic potential. Here, we propose a therapeutic strategy based on the simultaneous delivery of docetaxel (DTX) and the photosensitizer meso-tetraphenyl chlorine disulfonate (TPCS_2a) using hyaluronic acid (HA) coated polymeric nanoparticles (HA-NPs) for the targeting and killing of CD44 over-expressing breast cancer (BC) cells, both differentiated and CSCs (CD44^high/CD24^low population), thus combining chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Using the CD44^high MDA-MB-231 and the CD44^low MCF-7 cells, we demonstrated the occurrence of CD44-mediated uptake of HA-NPs both in monolayers and mammosphere cultures enriched in CSCs. Cell treatments showed that combination therapy using co-loaded NPs (HA@DTX/TPCS_2a-NPs) had superior efficacy over monotherapies (HA@DTX-NPs or HA@TPCS_2a-NPs) in reducing the self-renewal capacity, measured as mammosphere formation efficiency, and in eradicating the CSC population evaluated with aldehyde dehydrogenase activity assay and CD44/CD24 immunostaining. In summary, these in vitro studies demonstrated for the first time the potential of the combination of DTX-chemotherapy and TPCS_2a-PDT for killing CSCs using properly designed NPs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown