Pioneering Astaxanthin-Tumor Cell Membrane Nanoparticles for Innovative Targeted Drug Delivery on Melanoma

Abstract

Background

Recently, the use of the tumor or its secretions as drug carriers has gradually become popular, with the advantages of high biocompatibility and enhanced drug delivery to specific cells. Melanoma is the most malignant tumor of all skin cancers; it is the most metastatic and, therefore, the most difficult to treat. The main purpose of this study is to develop nanovesicles with tumor cell membrane secretion properties to encapsulate target substances to enhance the therapeutic effect of cancer.

Methods

Astaxanthin was selected as an anticancer drug due to our previous research finding that astaxanthin has extremely high antioxidant, anti-ultraviolet damage, and anti-tumor properties. The manufacturing method of the astaxanthin nanovesicle carrier is to mix melanoma cells and astaxanthin in an appropriate ratio and then remove the genetic material and inflammatory factors of cancer cells by extrusion.

Results

In terms of results, after the co-culture of astaxanthin nanovesicles and melanoma cancer cells, it was confirmed that the ability of astaxanthin nanovesicles to inhibit the growth and metastasis of melanoma cancer cells was significantly better than the same amount of astaxanthin alone, and it had no effect on normal Human cells are also effective. There was no apparent harm on normal cells, indicating the ability of the vesicles to be selectively transported.

Conclusion

Our findings illustrated the potential of astaxanthin nanovesicles as an anticancer drug.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• melanoma
• astaxanthin
• nanoparticle

Acknowledgment

This manuscript is thanks to the experiment assistances from Shih-jyun Huang, Zong-Ren Jiang, Yi-Siang Chen (Taichung Second Senior High School), and Liang-Fang Lin (National Chung Hsing University). The authors also acknowledge the support from the Center of AppliedNanomedicine at National Cheng Kung University from The Featured Areas ResearchCenter Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project bythe Ministry of Education.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan under grant nos. NSTC 111-2221-E-005-026-MY3, 111-2221-E-005-009, MOST 110-2221-E-039-002-MY3 and 110-2221-E-029-005. This work was also supported by Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital (KAFGH_D_112027).