Poor antigenic presentation of tumor tissues and a lack of specific targets currently limit the success of nanoparticle delivery system. Cellular carrier technique has been recently explored extensively as a substitutive or supplement for traditional targeting delivery system. Here, we demonstrate the usage of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) loaded with doxorubicin containing polymer nanoparticles in pulmonary melanoma metastases therapy, as a modified technique of targeted delivery system. The characterizations of prepared nanoparticles and MSCs sensitivity to DOX and PLGA-DOX were measured. In vitro tumor tropism, and in vivo distributions of nanoparticles loaded MSCs were also investigated. The findings have demonstrated that, the modified system not only integrates the controlled-release property of nanoparticles but also exhibits tumor tropism and penetrative characteristics of MSCs. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor study has demonstrated that drug loaded MSCs had potent efficacy in lung melanoma metastases treatment.

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The main challenge of anticancer drugs is poor tumor targeting. Now cellular carriers are widely investigated to deliver anticancer agents. As an ideal cellular candidate, human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) possess inherent tropism potential to tumor. Here, we constructed hUC-MSCs carrying transferrin-inspired-nanoparticles that contain doxorubicin(hUC-MSCs-Tf-inspired-NPs) to achieve enhanced anti-tumor efficacy and made an evaluation. Results represented that hUC-MSCs-Tf-inspired-NPs not only exhibit the controlled-release property of Tf-inspired-NPs, but also integrate tumor tropism and penetrative abilities of MSCs. The tumor volume of nude mice bearing breast cancer MCF-7 treated with hUC-MSCs-Tf-inspired-NPs, was remarkably reduced compared to those treated with free drug or Tf-inspired-NPs. Thus, Tf-inspired-NPs loaded hUC-MSCs have a potential to deliver anticancer drugs.