The codelivery of different therapeutics is a promising option because of its synergetic effects of drugs. In this study, a new combination therapy that used the doxorubicin-loaded and 131I-labeled nanoliposomes (131I-DOX-NL) was proposed to delay tumor growth of gliomas, which are characterized by significant mortality and morbidity. 131I-DOX-NL was constructed based on bovine serum albumin (BSA)-tailor made hydrophobic maleimide-functionalized poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) (Fig. 1) and was evaluated by cellular viability in vitro and by U87 xenograft models in vivo. Compared with using 131I-NL or DOX-NL alone, our experimental results show that 131I-DOX-NL exhibits similar high cellular uptake but enhanced efficacy to cure gliomas because of its codelivery of 131I and DOX. In the U87 mouse tumor models, the combination therapy resulted in higher survival rates of mice and smaller tumor sizes than monotherapy did alone. In conclusion, multifunctional nanoliposome 131I-DOX-NL is a good candidate for the codelivery of 131I-mediated radiotherapy and DOX-mediated chemotherapy due to its ability to inhibit U87 cell proliferation and tumor growth. 131I-DOX-NL can be used as a promising effective therapy for malignant gliomas and deserves further investigation.
Keywords: Combination therapy; DOX chemotherapy; Malignant glioma; Nanoliposomes; Radioiodine therapy.
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