Pengfei Xu,Qi Yin,Jianan Shen,Lingli Chen,Haijun Yu,Zhiwen Zhang,Yaping Li
Tumor metastasis is the leading cause of breast cancer-related mortality and remains to be the principal obstacle for the successful chemotherapy of breast cancer . To block metastasis of breast cancer, silibinin-loaded lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) containing TPGS and phosphatidylcholine were designed and prepared by a thin-film hydration method. The optimized SLNs were approximately 45 nm in particle size with high stability in serum, which were further demonstrated to be efficiently uptaken by MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Importantly, the SLNs could accumulate within tumor tissues with high efficiency and amounts. Compared with free silibinin , SLNs exhibited much stronger inhibitory effects on the invasion and migration of MDA-MB-231 cells through the downregulation of MMP-9 and Snail. More importantly, systematic in vivo evaluations demonstrated that SLNs treatment group resulted in 67% and 39% less pulmonary metastases formation than saline treatment group in the spontaneous and blood vessel metastasis models, respectively. Interestingly, the blank lipid nanoparticles without silibinin were also found, for the first time, to possess the efficient anti-metastatic capabilities to some extent. The biocompatibility assay reveals that SLNs treatment did not exhibit obvious systemic toxicity in two mouse models. Therefore, SLNs are the promising delivery systems against metastasis of breast cancer cells.
Feifei Han,Haiping Wang,Li Wang,Limei Fan,Sibei Peng,Xiaoying Hou,Xiji Shu,Binlian Sun,Yuchen Liu
Introduction Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the liver, is the most prevalent cause of chronic liver disease globally. The clinical use of pharmacological agents such as silibinin and sorafenib is limited due to poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and potential side effects, necessitating innovative therapeutic approaches.Methods In this study, we developed self-assembled, carrier-free microparticles of silibinin and sorafenib (SIL-SOR-MPs) using magnetic stirring and evaluated their therapeutic effects on MASLD both in vitro and in vivo.Results Compared to free SIL and free SOR, SIL-SOR-MPs significantly reduced lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells and effectively alleviated hepatic steatosis and liver damage in mice. Mechanistic investigations further showed that SIL-SOR-MPs more effectively down-regulated lipid synthesis genes and up-regulated genes involved in lipid oxidation.Discussion In summary, our study highlights that carrier-free SIL-SOR-MPs demonstrate the ability to reverse the progression of MASLD and present a promising therapeutic strategy.