Paclitaxel-loaded magnetic nanocrystals for tumor neovascular-targeted theranostics: an amplifying synergistic therapy combining magnetic hyperthermia with chemotherapy

Nanoscale. 2021 Feb 14;13(6):3613-3626. doi: 10.1039/d0nr08197c. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Abstract

A combination of chemotherapy and targeted magnetic hyperthermia (TMH) via a designed magnetic nanocrystal (MNC) drug delivery system was considered as an effective tumor synergistic therapy strategy. In this paper, we successfully synthesized tumor neovascular-targeted Mn-Zn ferrite MNCs, which encapsulated paclitaxel (PTX) in a biocompatible PEG-phospholipid (DSPE-PEG2000) layer and surface, simultaneously coupled with a tripeptide of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD). The high-performance RGD-modified MNC loaded with PTX (MNCs-PTX@RGD) embodied excellent magnetic properties, including high-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and remarkable magnetically induced heat generation ability. We established the mouse model bearing subcutaneous 4T1 breast tumor, and demonstrated that MNCs-PTX@RGD could be effectively located in the tumor neovascular epithelial cells under the guidance of in vivo MRI. Notably, MNCs-PTX@RGD could easily penetrate into the tumor tissue from the tumor-fenestrated vascular networks for capturing a sufficient temperature (around 43 °C) exposed to an alternative current magnetic field (ACMF, 2.58 kA m-1, 390 kHz), leading to an effective TMH effect. Subsequently, the TMH-mediated temperature elevation accelerated the PTX release from the inner lipid layer, promoting the synergetic thermo-chemotherapy in vivo. The amplifying synergistic treatment strategy obviously improved the anti-tumor efficacy of MNCs-PTX@RGD, and simultaneously increased the survival time of the mice to more than 46 days, which provided a broad development prospect in clinical applications.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Drug Delivery Systems
  • Hyperthermia
  • Magnetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Paclitaxel* / pharmacology
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Precision Medicine

Substances

  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Paclitaxel