Chang Liu,Zijun Zhou,Ye Chen,Ju Liu,Yang Wang,Hongsheng Liu
Scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1) is over-expressed in tumour cells where it mediates the uptake of drug payload of reconstituted high density lipoprotein (rHDL) via the process of reverse cholesterol transport. In this study, rHDL was prepared to determine its function as a drug delivery carrier for targeting hepatocellular carcinoma by incorporating the anti-tumour drug garcinia glycosides (GG) into rHDL to yield rHDL/GG nano-complexes. Structural analysis indicated that the rHDL/GG nano-complex was similar to HDL in size. HepG2 cells treated with fluorescent-labelled rHDL/GG exhibited a time-dependent increase in cell death. Further experiment in which HepG2 cells were treated with rHDL/GG plus plasma-derived HDL showed reduction in cell death compared to treatment with rHDL/GG alone, suggesting that plasma-derived HDL compete with rHDL/GG for binding to the SR-B1 on the cell. We concluded that rHDL could not only incorporate GG but could also serve as a carrier, targeting the drug to HepG2 cells via SR-B1.
A disorder of cholesterol homeostasis is one of the main initiating factors in the progression of atherosclerosis (AS). Metabolism and removal of excess cholesterol facilitates the prevention of foam cell formation. However, the failure of treatment with drugs (e.g. methotrexate, MTX) to effectively regulate progression of disease may be related to the limited drug bioavailability and rapid clearance by immune system. Thus, based on the inflammatory lesion “recruitment” properties of macrophages, MTX nanoparticles (MTX NPs) camouflaged with macrophage membranes (MM@MTX NPs) were constructed for the target to AS plaques. MM@MTX NPs exhibited a uniform hydrodynamic size around ~ 360 nm and controlled drug release properties (~ 72% at 12 h). After the macrophage membranes (MM) functionalized “homing” target delivery to AS plaques, MM@MTX NPs improved the solubility of cholesterol by the functionalized β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) component and significantly elevate cholesterol efflux by the loaded MTX mediated the increased expression levels of ABCA1, SR-B1, CYP27A1, resulting in efficiently inhibiting the formation of foam cells. Furthermore, MM@MTX NPs could significantly reduce the area of plaque, aortic plaque and cholesterol crystals deposition in ApoE−/− mice and exhibited biocompatibility. It is suggested that MM@MTX NPs were a safe and efficient therapeutic platform for AS.Graphical Abstract