Cetuximab-modified mesoporous silica nano-medicine specifically targets EGFR-mutant lung cancer and overcomes drug resistance

Sci Rep. 2016 May 6:6:25468. doi: 10.1038/srep25468.

Abstract

Drug resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is the main obstacle for efficient treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant lung cancer patients. Here we design a cetuximab-capped mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MP-SiO2 NP) as the drug carrier to specifically target EGFR-mutant lung cancer cells and efficiently release loaded drugs including doxorubicin and gefitinib. This innovative nano-medicine can specifically target lung cancer cells with high EGFR expression rather than those with low EGFR level. Treatment of a gefitinib-resistant cell line derived from PC9 cell (PC9-DR) with the gefitinib-loaded cetuximab-capped MP-SiO2 NP showed a significant inhibition of cell growth. Moreover, this nano-medicine successfully suppressed the progression of PC9-DR xenograft tumors. This tumor suppression was due to the endocytosis of large amount of nano-medicine and the effective gefitinib release induced by high glutathione (GSH) level in PC9-DR cells. Collectively, our study provides a novel approach to overcome EGFR-TKI resistance using cetuximab modified MP-SiO2 NP, which holds strong potential for effective management of EGFR-mutant lung cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / administration & dosage*
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / pharmacokinetics*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cetuximab / administration & dosage*
  • Cetuximab / pharmacokinetics*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Doxorubicin / administration & dosage
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacokinetics
  • Drug Carriers / administration & dosage
  • Drug Carriers / pharmacokinetics
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm*
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism
  • Gefitinib
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Nanomedicine / methods*
  • Quinazolines / administration & dosage
  • Quinazolines / pharmacokinetics
  • Silicon Dioxide / administration & dosage
  • Silicon Dioxide / pharmacokinetics
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
  • Drug Carriers
  • Quinazolines
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Doxorubicin
  • EGFR protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Cetuximab
  • Gefitinib