(生物谷Bioon.com)近日,美国北卡罗莱纳大学教堂山分校文理学院Joseph M. DeSimone教授研究小组发现了一种通过将转铁蛋白和纳米粒子结合治疗癌症的新策略。该研究发表于杂志上。
转铁蛋白与纳米粒子结合就可瞄准并杀死拉莫斯癌细胞，而无需负载其他化疗药物，此项发现将有望发展出癌症靶向治疗的新策略。人体中的一种正常的良性蛋白质，如果和纳米粒子相结合，就能瞄准并杀死癌细胞，而无须负载那些携带化疗药物的粒子。此前，研究人员曾认为，纳米粒子只有携带了有毒的化学载体才能达到这样的效果。
转铁蛋白是人体血液中数量第四多的蛋白质，近20年来一直被作为肿瘤靶向载体用以递送治癌药物。纳米粒子通常也是无毒的，需要通过负载标准化疗药物来治疗癌症。然而，结合转铁蛋白的“打印”纳米粒子，不仅能识别它们，还能诱导癌细胞死亡。而不与任何纳米粒子结合的自由转铁蛋白，能从拉莫斯癌细胞中获得养料生长，即使在很高浓度下也不会杀死任何拉莫斯癌细胞。
然而令人吃惊的是，转铁蛋白附着在纳米粒子表面后，其能有效地筛选标靶，攻击并杀死B细胞淋巴瘤。在许多迅速生长的癌细胞表面，蛋白质受体被过度表达，于是和转铁蛋白配体结合的治疗就能找到并瞄准它们，而结合转铁蛋白的纳米粒子被认为是安全且无毒的。
德西蒙实验室发明了一种“打印”技术，能人为造出尺寸精确且形状符合预期的纳米颗粒。他们采用这种技术制作出一种可与人类转铁蛋白相结合的生物相容性纳米粒子，其能安全且精确地识别广谱癌症，除了B细胞淋巴瘤外，还能有效地指向非小型细胞，如肺、卵巢、肝脏和前列腺的癌细胞。
研究人员目前正在进一步研究，携带转铁蛋白的纳米粒子如何及为何对于拉莫斯癌细胞是有毒的，而对其他细胞却无毒。
化学治疗和放射治疗曾被认为是癌症的最有效疗法，但这些疗法通常会损害健康组织和器官。这一发现将可能发展出一种全新的策略来治疗某种类型的淋巴瘤，而副作用更小。
不过，德西蒙承认，该研究也会引起一些人对不可预期后果的担忧，即一个设计好的针对某类癌症的靶向化疗载体是否会偏离目标（常丽君）。（生物谷Bioon.com）
相关阅读
凝聚社会力量 共抗癌症--生物谷专访中山大学肿瘤防治中心钱朝南研究员
生物谷近期特别推荐会议：
2010细胞治疗研究进展与临床前沿研讨会 www.Cell-therapies.net 2010年9月23日-25日天津召开
第一届肿瘤基础和转化医学国际研讨会 www.cancerasia.org 2010年10月12日-10月15日上海召开
生物谷推荐原文出处：
J. Am. Chem. Soc. DOI: 10.1021/ja1043177
The Complex Role of Multivalency in Nanoparticles Targeting the Transferrin Receptor for Cancer Therapies
Jin Wang??§×, Shaomin Tian??§×, Robby A. Petros?§, Mary E. Napier?§× and Joseph M. DeSimone??§#×
Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology, Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, Institute for Advanced Materials, Institute for Nanomedicine and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, and Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021
Transferrin receptor (TfR, CD71) has long been a therapeutic target due to its overexpression in many malignant tissues. In this study, PRINT nanoparticles were conjugated with TfR ligands for targeted drug delivery. Cylindrical poly(ethylene glycol)-based PRINT nanoparticles (diameter (d) = 200 nm, height (h) = 200 nm) labeled with transferrin receptor antibody (NP-OKT9) or human transferrin (NP-hTf) showed highly specific TfR-mediated uptake by all human tumor cell lines tested, relative to negative controls (IgG1 for OKT9 or bovine transferrin (bTf) for hTf). The targeting efficiency was dependent on particle concentration, ligand density, dosing time, and cell surface receptor expression level. Interestingly, NP-OKT9 or NP-hTf showed little cytotoxicity on all solid tumor cell lines tested but were very toxic to Ramos B-cell lymphoma, whereas free OKT9 or hTf was not toxic. There was a strong correlation between TfR ligand density on the particle surface and cell viability and particle uptake. NP-OKT9 and NP-hTf were internalized into acidic intracellular compartments but were not localized in EEA1-enriched early endosomes or lysosomes. Elevated caspase 3/7 activity indicates activation of apoptosis pathways upon particle treatment. Supplementation of iron suppressed the toxicity of NP-OKT9 but not NP-hTf, suggesting different mechanisms by which NP-hTf and NP-OKT9 exerts cytotoxicity on Ramos cells. On the basis of such an observation, the complex role of multivalency in nanoparticles is discussed. In addition, our data clearly reveal that one must be careful in making claims of “lack of toxicity” when a targeting molecule is used on nanoparticles and also raise concerns for unanticipated off-target effects when one is designing targeted chemotherapy nanodelivery agents.
