Exosomal delivery of doxorubicin enables rapid cell entry and enhanced in vitro potency

PLoS One. 2019 Mar 29;14(3):e0214545. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214545. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent that is commonly used to treat a broad range of cancers. However, significant cardiotoxicity, associated with prolonged exposure to doxorubicin, limits its continued therapeutic use. One strategy to prevent the uptake of doxorubicin into cardiac cells is the encapsulation of the drug to prevent non-specific uptake and also to improve the drugs' pharmacokinetic properties. Although encapsulated forms of doxorubicin limit the cardiotoxicity observed, they are not without their own liabilities as an increased amount of drug is deposited in the skin where liposomal doxorubicin can cause palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia. Exosomes are small endogenous extracellular vesicles, that transfer bioactive material from one cell to another, and are considered attractive drug delivery vehicles due to their natural origin. In this study, we generated doxorubicin-loaded exosomes and demonstrate their rapid cellular uptake and re-distribution of doxorubicin from endosomes to the cytoplasm and nucleus resulting in enhanced potency in a number of cultured and primary cell lines when compared to free doxorubicin and liposomal formulations of doxorubicin. In contrast to other delivery methods for doxorubicin, exosomes do not accumulate in the heart, thereby providing potential for limiting the cardiac side effects and improved therapeutic index.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Biological Transport
  • Cell Line
  • Doxorubicin / metabolism*
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology*
  • Exosomes / drug effects
  • Exosomes / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Intracellular Space / drug effects
  • Intracellular Space / metabolism
  • Kinetics

Substances

  • Doxorubicin

Grants and funding

This study was funded solely by MedImmune Ltd which is a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC. Support was provided in the form of salaries to all authors (CS, AC, CM, AP, LJ, RRM, TJV, NJT) and procurement of materials but funders did not have any additional role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.