Cancer Cell Membrane-Camouflaged Nanorods with Endoplasmic Reticulum Targeting for Improved Antitumor Therapy

Abstract

Cell membrane-coated nanocarriers have been developed for drug delivery due to their enhanced blood circulation and tissue targeting capacities; however, previous works have generally focused on spherical nanoparticles and extracellular barriers. Many living organisms with different shapes, such as rod-shaped bacilli and rhabdovirus, display different functionalities regarding tissue penetration, cellular uptake, and intracellular distribution. Herein, we developed cancer cell membrane (CCM)-coated nanoparticles with spherical and rod shapes. CCM-coated nanorods (CRs) showed superior endocytosis efficiency compared with their spherical counterparts (CCM-coated nanospheres, CSs) due to the caveolin-mediated pathway. Moreover, CRs can effectively accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) region and ship the loaded DOX to the nucleus at a considerable concentration, resulting in ER stress and subsequent apoptosis. After intravenous injection into human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell (BxPC-3) and pancreatic stellate cell (HPSC) hybrid tumor-bearing nude mice, CRs exhibited improved immune escape ability, rapid extracellular matrix (ECM) penetration (8.2-fold higher than CSs), and enhanced tumor accumulation, further contributing to the enhanced antitumor efficacy. These findings may actually suggest the significance of shape design in improving current cell membrane-based drug delivery systems for effective subcellular targets and tumor therapy.

Smart Tumor Microenvironment‐Responsive Nanotheranostic Agent for Effective Cancer Therapy

“…After 24 h, the nude mice were dissected and organs and tumors were removed, organs and tumors were placed on a platform for imaging, and the fluorescence intensity was quantified using software for in vivo imaging. [ 30 ]…”

Tailor‐Made Nanomaterials for Diagnosis and Therapy of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

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Cancer Cell Membrane Technology for Cancer Therapy

“…Zhang et al explored the effect of cancer cell membrane coating on particles having different shapes. [62] The study is based on the earlier knowledge that polymeric NPs with rod and worm shapes, could pass through cellular barriers more efficiently than spherical particles. Mesoporous silica rod is used in the core, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell (BxPC-3) membrane is used for coating.…”