Metal-based drugs have been used for decades to treat solid cancers; however, these drugs have no significant therapeutic effect on glioma because they cannot effectively cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). To develop a novel metal-based agent that can cross the BBB to target glioma, we synthesized an Au complex (C2) with remarkable glioma cytotoxicity and fabricated lactoferrin (LF)-C2 nanoparticles (LF-C2 NPs) as a novel therapy. We confirmed that C2 kills glioma cells by inducing apoptosis and autophagic death. The LF-C2 NPs cross the BBB, inhibit glioma growth, and selectively accumulate in the tumor tissue, significantly decreasing the side effects of C2. This study provides a novel strategy for applying metal-based agents to targeted therapy for glioma.
Keywords: Au(III) complex; antiglioma; blood−brain barrier; lactoferrin nanoparticles.