Smart albumin-loaded Rose Bengal and doxorubicin nanoparticles for breast cancer therapy

Abstract

Objective: To synthesise HSA-RB-DOX nanoparticles, measure its characteristics and preliminarily evaluate its anti-cancer effects.

Methods: Doxorubicin (DOX) and Rose Bengal (RB) were co-delivered using albumin as a carrier. HSA-RB-DOX nanoparticles were prepared by RB-induced self-assembly of albumin. Its characteristics were measured and anti-cancer effects were tested in MCF-7 cells and tumour-bearing mice.

Results: HSA-RB-DOX nanoparticle with a mean size of 42 nm was stable in different medium and behaved controlled release characteristic. It was well took in MCF-7 cells and inhibited MCF-7 cells proliferation by inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. It retained a much higher blood concentration up to 12 h and accumulated more in tumour tissues. In tumour-bearing mice, HSA-RB-DOX nanoparticles inhibited tumour growth and even decreased its volume from 100 to 50 mm³, with barely no influence on body weight.

Conclusions: HSA-RB-DOX nanoparticles may be potentially used for enhanced treatment of breast cancer.

Keywords:

• HSA-RB-DOX
• nanoparticles
• doxorubicin
• Rose Bengal
• ROS
• breast cancer

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Shandong Key Research and Development Program (2018GSF118075); National Natural Science Foundation of China (81703617).