Aptamer-Functionalized Liposomes as a Potential Treatment for Basal Cell Carcinoma.
Anca Niculina CadinoiuDelia Mihaela RataLeonard Ionuţ AtanaseOana M DarabaDaniela GherghelGabriela VochitaMarcel PopaPublished in: Polymers (2019)
More than one out of every three new cancers is a skin cancer, and the large majority are basal cell carcinomas (BCC). Targeted therapy targets the cancer's specific genes, proteins, or tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival and blocks the growth as well as the spread of cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy cells. Therefore, in the present study AS1411 aptamer-functionalized liposomes for the treatment of BCC were obtained and characterized. Aptamer conjugation increased liposome size, suggesting that the presence of an additional hydrophilic molecule on the liposomal surface increased the hydrodynamic diameter. As expected, the negatively charged DNA aptamer reduced the surface potential of the liposomes. Vertical Franz diffusion cells with artificial membranes were used to evaluate the in vitro release of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The aptamer moieties increase the stability of the liposomes and act as a supplementary steric barrier leading to a lower cumulative amount of the released 5-FU. The in vitro cell viability, targeting capability and apoptotic effects of liposomes on the human dermal fibroblasts and on the basal cell carcinoma TE 354.T cell lines were also evaluated. The results indicate that the functionalized liposomes are more efficient as nanocarriers than the non-functionalized ones.
Keyphrases
- drug delivery
- drug release
- basal cell carcinoma
- gold nanoparticles
- sensitive detection
- quantum dots
- cancer therapy
- induced apoptosis
- magnetic nanoparticles
- cell cycle arrest
- papillary thyroid
- skin cancer
- label free
- endothelial cells
- cell death
- molecularly imprinted
- childhood cancer
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- young adults
- cell therapy
- stem cells
- mesenchymal stem cells
- single molecule
- single cell
- transcription factor
- liquid chromatography
- genome wide
- risk assessment
- bone marrow
- human health
- climate change
- extracellular matrix