Mamnoon Babak, Mesquita Souza Ana Paula, Korzun Tetiana, Baldwin Maureen K, Sharma K Shitaljit, Taratula Oleh, Goo Yoon Tae, Singh Prem, Grigoriev Vladislav, Lakhanpal Aryan, Taratula Olena R
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences College of Pharmacy Oregon State University 2730 S Moody Avenue Portland OR 97201 USA.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology School of Medicine Oregon Health & Science University 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road Portland OR 97239 USA.
Small Sci. 2025 Jan 28;5(7):2400361. doi: 10.1002/smsc.202400361. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Gestational choriocarcinoma (CC) is a rare and highly malignant cancer originating from the trophoblastic layers of the placenta. Currently, methotrexate (MTX) is the first-line treatment for CC; however, due to the aggressive and metastatic nature of CC, multiple doses are often required, leading to severe side effects from the lack of tumor specificity. The first targeted MTX-loaded polymersomes (Ps) designed for efficient drug delivery to CC tumors are introduced. The modification of these Ps nanoplatforms with guanosine (Gn), which targets the ENT-1 transporter overexpressed in CC cells, significantly enhances tumor uptake. Upon internalization by CC cells, the disulfide bonds in the Ps are reduced by high intracellular glutathione levels, causing Ps disintegration and efficient drug release. Biodistribution studies also reveal significant accumulation in subcutaneous CC tumors with minimal distribution in major organs. The ENT-1-targetedpolymersomes show twice the tumor accumulation compared to the nontargeted ones based on in-vivo fluorescence imaging. ENT-1-targeted MTX-loaded polymersomes (Gn-MTX@SS-Ps) achieve significantly greater tumor shrinkage in mice, reducing tumors by 30% more than nontargeted MTX@SS-Ps and 75% more than free MTX at the same dosage regimen. Consequently, developed CC-targeted MTX-loaded polymer-based delivery system holds the potential to significantly enhance the treatment of CC.
妊娠性绒毛膜癌(CC)是一种罕见的高恶性肿瘤,起源于胎盘的滋养层。目前,甲氨蝶呤(MTX)是CC的一线治疗药物;然而,由于CC具有侵袭性和转移性,通常需要多次给药,因缺乏肿瘤特异性而导致严重的副作用。本文介绍了首个设计用于将MTX高效递送至CC肿瘤的靶向载药聚合物囊泡(Ps)。用鸟苷(Gn)修饰这些Ps纳米平台,Gn可靶向CC细胞中过表达的ENT-1转运体,显著增强肿瘤摄取。CC细胞内化后,细胞内高谷胱甘肽水平可还原Ps中的二硫键,导致Ps解体并实现高效药物释放。生物分布研究还显示,皮下CC肿瘤中有显著蓄积,而在主要器官中的分布极少。基于体内荧光成像,与非靶向聚合物囊泡相比,ENT-1靶向聚合物囊泡的肿瘤蓄积量增加了一倍。在相同给药方案下,ENT-1靶向载药聚合物囊泡(Gn-MTX@SS-Ps)在小鼠体内使肿瘤缩小的程度显著更大,比非靶向MTX@SS-Ps多缩小30%,比游离MTX多缩小75%。因此,所开发的基于聚合物的CC靶向载药递送系统具有显著增强CC治疗效果的潜力。