Emulsion was taught to bombard cancer with drugs
Anna Manshina, N+1
Scientists have created a multifunctional nanotransport for anti-cancer drugs based on a double emulsion. Oil-water droplets contain gold nanorods, DNA origami and individually selected combinations of drugs. Such transport will increase the effectiveness of therapy due to the synergistic effect.
An article about the study (Kong et al., Drug Delivery: Gold Nanorods, DNA Origami, and Porous Silicon Nanoparticle-functionalized Biocompatible Double Emulsion for Versatile Targeted Therapeutics and Antibody Combination Therapy) is published in the journal Advanced Materials.
The effectiveness of complex drug therapy of various types of cancer increases when different drugs simultaneously enter the target cancer cells. This is due to synergy – the effect of the simultaneous action of several drugs is higher than the sum of the effects of each of the drugs separately.
To provide a synergistic effect, we need a biocompatible nanocontainer that can deliver drugs to the tumor and extract them at the right time in response to an external stimulus. Such a container will also help to reduce the contact of toxic anti-cancer drugs with healthy tissues.
There are already several platforms developed for targeted delivery, for example, giant liposomes and polymer bubbles. But now solvents are used for their manufacture, which are harmful to the body even in residual quantities.
The authors of the new work have created a platform for drug delivery based on a water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion using surfactants and sesame oil that are safe for humans. Such an emulsion made it possible to simultaneously load and deliver hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, and the inclusion of porous silicon nanoparticles increased the volume of loading of drugs that are poorly soluble in oil. Gold nanorods added to the aqueous phase of the emulsion provided photothermal sensitivity of the platform – under infrared irradiation, the nanorods themselves and the hydrophilic drug doxorubicin were released very quickly. DNA origami has also been added to the new transport - two– and three-dimensional structures of a given shape, folded from DNA. They make it possible to overcome the drug resistance of cancer cells and enhance the synergy of therapy.
The platform showed good biocompatibility in tests with HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines. The researchers tested the effect of various combinations of drugs delivered by the platform on breast and lung cancer cell lines and noticed an increase in the therapeutic effect compared to single drugs. This confirms that the combination of drugs has a synergistic effect on inhibiting the multidrug resistance of cancer cells.
The platform is quite easy to reproduce, the emulsion droplets are very small (about seven nanometers) and it is capable of delivering various combinations and concentrations of drugs. This makes the new nanotransport very promising for use in individual therapy of various types of cancer.
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15.12.2016