Glucose consumption in many types of cancer cells, in particular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), was followed completely by over-expression of type II hexokinase (HKII). This evidence has been used in modern pharmacotherapy to discover therapeutic target against glycolysis in cancer cells. Bromopyruvate (BrPA) exhibits antagonist property against HKII and can be used to inhibit glycolysis. However, the clinical application of BrPA is mostly combined with inhibition effect for healthy cells particularly erythrocytes. Our strategy is to encapsulate BrPA in a selected vehicle, without any leakage of BrPA out of vehicle in blood stream. This structure has been constructed from chitosan embedded into oleic acid layer and then coated by dual combination of folic acid (FA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). With FA as specific ligand for cancer folate receptor and BSA that can be an easy binding for hepatocytes, they can raise the potential selection of carrier system.
Keywords: bromopyruvate; glycolysis; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); nanocarrier.