Low density lipoprotein receptor targeted doxorubicin/DNA-Gold Nanorods as a chemo- and thermo-dual therapy for prostate cancer

Publication date: 20 November 2016 Source:International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Volume 513, Issues 1–2 Author(s): Nan Zhang, Shasha Li, Haiying Hua, Dan Liu, Lili Song, Pengchao Sun, Weiwei Huang, Yafang Tang, Yongxing Zhao As drug vehicles and therapeutics, Gold Nanorods (GNRs) have various merits such as easy preparation and modification, passive accumulation to tumor tissues, effective intracellular delivery of therapeutics, and thermal responses to laser radiation. Doxorubicin (DOX) has been the standard chemotherapy for cancer. To enhance the anti-cancer efficacy, chemotherapy and thermotherapy were combined in the present study. To load sufficient DOX, DOX was first intercalated into DNA double strands and then absorbed to GNRs. PEG (polyethylene glycol) was used to modify DOX/DNA-GNRs to prolong circulation in vivo and to enhance its stability. Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) targeted peptide-RLT (R) was also bound to DOX/DNA-GNRs to increase their specificity to LDLR over-expressed cancer cells. DNA-GNRs-PEG/R was successfully prepared with high in vitro stability in this study and DOX was loaded sufficiently to obtain DOX/DNA-GNRs-PEG/R. DOX/DNA-GNRs-PEG/R with near infrared (NIR) laser treatment showed higher inhibition to MCF-7 cells and PC-3 cells and both DOX/DNA-GNRs-PEG/R with/without NIR laser treatment were more potent than free DOX. Cell uptake experiment indicated that DOX loaded in DNA-GNRs-PEG/R was taken by PC-3 cells much faster t...
Source: International Journal of Pharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research