Click Nucleic Acid Mediated Loading of Prodrug Activating Enzymes in PEG-PLGA Nanoparticles for Combination Chemotherapy

Biomacromolecules. 2019 Apr 8;20(4):1683-1690. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.9b00040. Epub 2019 Mar 26.

Abstract

The simultaneous delivery of multiple therapeutics to a single site has shown promise for cancer targeting and treatment. However, because of the inherent differences in charge and size between drugs and biomolecules, new approaches are required for colocalization of unlike components in one delivery vehicle. In this work, we demonstrate that triblock copolymers containing click nucleic acids (CNAs) can be used to simultaneously load a prodrug enzyme (cytosine deaminase, CodA) and a chemotherapy drug (doxorubicin, DOX) in a single polymer nanoparticle. CNAs are synthetic analogs of DNA comprised of a thiolene backbone and nucleotide bases that can hybridize to complementary strands of DNA. In this study, CodA was appended with complementary DNA sequences and fluorescent dyes to allow its encapsulation in PEG-CNA-PLGA nanoparticles. The DNA-modified CodA was found to retain its enzyme activity for converting prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) to active 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) using a modified fluorescent assay. The DNA-conjugated CodA was then loaded into the PEG-CNA-PLGA nanoparticles and tested for cell cytotoxicity in the presence of the 5-FC prodrug. To study the effect of coloading DOX and CodA within a single nanoparticle, cell toxicity assays were run to compare dually loaded nanoparticles with nanoparticles loaded only with either DOX or CodA. We show that the highest level of cell death occurred when both DOX and CodA were simultaneously entrapped and delivered to cells in the presence of 5-FC.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols* / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols* / pharmacokinetics
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols* / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cytosine Deaminase* / chemistry
  • Cytosine Deaminase* / pharmacology
  • DNA* / chemistry
  • DNA* / pharmacology
  • Doxorubicin / chemistry
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacokinetics
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Carriers* / chemistry
  • Drug Carriers* / therapeutic use
  • Enzymes, Immobilized* / chemistry
  • Enzymes, Immobilized* / pharmacology
  • Escherichia coli Proteins* / chemistry
  • Escherichia coli Proteins* / pharmacology
  • Flucytosine / chemistry
  • Flucytosine / pharmacokinetics
  • Flucytosine / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Nanoparticles* / chemistry
  • Nanoparticles* / therapeutic use
  • Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Neoplasms* / metabolism
  • Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Polyesters* / chemical synthesis
  • Polyesters* / chemistry
  • Polyesters* / pharmacology
  • Polyethylene Glycols* / chemical synthesis
  • Polyethylene Glycols* / chemistry
  • Polyethylene Glycols* / pharmacology
  • Prodrugs* / chemistry
  • Prodrugs* / pharmacology

Substances

  • Drug Carriers
  • Enzymes, Immobilized
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • Polyesters
  • Prodrugs
  • polyethylene glycol-poly(lactide-co-glycolide)
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Doxorubicin
  • DNA
  • Flucytosine
  • Cytosine Deaminase
  • codA protein, E coli