Nanodrug Hijacking Blood Transferrin for Ferroptosis-Mediated Cancer Treatment

J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Mar 27;146(12):8567-8575. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c00395. Epub 2024 Mar 15.

Abstract

Ferroptosis as a promising method of cancer treatment heavily relies on the intracellular iron ion level. Herein, a new iron-supplement nanodrug was developed by conjugating transferrin-homing peptide T10 on the surface of cross-linked lipoic acid vesicles (T10@cLAV), which could hijack blood transferrin (Tf) and specifically deliver it to tumor cells to elevate the Fe2+ level. Meanwhile, the intracellular degradation product of cLAV, dihydrolipoic acid, could regenerate Fe2+ to further boost the ferroptosis. The results disclosed that T10@cLAV achieved tumor inhibition comparable to that of cisplatin at a dose as low as 5 mg/kg in the HeLa tumor-bearing nude mice model and caused no toxicity at the dose up to 300 mg/kg. This tactful iron-supplement strategy of hijacking blood Tf is superior to the current strategies: one is the induction of intracellular ferritin degradation, which is limited by the low content of ferritin, and the other is the delivery of iron-based materials, which easily causes adverse effects.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ferritins
  • Ferroptosis*
  • Iron / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Nanoparticles* / chemistry
  • Neoplasms*
  • Transferrin / metabolism

Substances

  • Transferrin
  • Iron
  • Ferritins