Sialic Acid Conjugate-Modified Cationic Liposomal Paclitaxel for Targeted Therapy of Lung Metastasis in Breast Cancer: What a Difference the Cation Content Makes

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Wenliang Sun
  • Chao Han
  • Ruirui Ge
  • Xiaotong Jiang
  • Yu Wang
  • Yingchao Han
  • Ning Wang
  • Yanzhi Song
  • Yang, Mingshi
  • Guoliang Chen
  • Yihui Deng

Cationic lipids play a pivotal role in developing novel drug delivery systems for diverse biomedical applications, owing to the success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and the Phase III antitumor agent EndoTAG-1. However, the therapeutic potential of these positively charged liposomes is limited by dose-dependent toxicity. While an increased content of cationic lipids in the formulation can enhance the uptake and cytotoxicity toward tumor-associated cells, it is crucial to balance these advantages with the associated toxic side effects. In this work, we synthesized the cationic lipid HC-Y-2 and incorporated it into sialic acid (SA)-modified cationic liposomes loaded with paclitaxel to target tumor-associated immune cells efficiently. The SA-modified cationic liposomes exhibited enhanced binding affinity toward both RAW264.7 cells and 4T1 tumor cells in vitro due to the increased ratios of cationic HC-Y-2 content while effectively inhibiting 4T1 cell lung metastasis in vivo. By leveraging electrostatic forces and ligand-receptor interactions, the SA-modified cationic liposomes specifically target malignant tumor-associated immune cells such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), reduce the proportion of cationic lipids in the formulation, and achieve dual objectives: high cellular uptake and potent antitumor efficacy. These findings highlight the potential advantages of this innovative approach utilizing cationic liposomes.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMolecular Pharmaceutics
Volume21
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1625-1638
ISSN1543-8384
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Chemical Society.

    Research areas

  • cationic lipid, liposome, lung metastasis, paclitaxel, sialic acid

ID: 388944986