Nature-Inspired Nanoparticles as Paclitaxel Targeted Carrier for the Treatment of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Abstract

Despite the advances made in the fight against HER2-positive breast cancer, the need for less toxic therapies and strategies that avoid the apparition of resistances is indisputable. For this reason, a targeted nanovehicle for paclitaxel and trastuzumab, used in the first-line treatment of this subtype of breast cancer, had already been developed in a previous study. It yielded good results in vitro but, with the aim of further reducing paclitaxel effective dose and its side effects, a novel drug delivery system was prepared in this work. Thus, polydopamine nanoparticles, which are gaining popularity in cancer nanomedicine, were novelty loaded with paclitaxel and trastuzumab. The effectiveness and selectivity of the nanoparticles obtained were validated in vitro with different HER2-overexpressing tumor and stromal cell lines. These nanoparticles showed more remarkable antitumor activity than the nanosystem previously designed and, in addition, to affect stromal cell viability rate less than the parent drug. Moreover, loaded polydopamine nanoparticles, which notably increased the number of apoptotic HER2-positive breast cancer cells after treatment, also maintained an efficient antineoplastic effect when validated in tumor spheroids. Thereby, these bioinspired nanoparticles charged with both trastuzumab and paclitaxel may represent an excellent approach to improve current HER2-positive breast cancer therapies.

Nanoscale strides: exploring innovative therapies for breast cancer treatment

“…PDA NPs, despite not being loaded with taxane or anti-HER2 antibody, have shown remarkable antitumor activity in vitro in HER2+ conventional cell cultures and breast tumor spheroids. 179 Encapsulation of diosgenin in PLGA nanoparticles, coated with folic acid-chitosan, yielded a stable formulation with potent anticancer effects against TUBO breast cancer cells. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth and apoptosis induction.…”

A pH‑responsive hyaluronic acid nano‑vehicle co‑encapsulating doxorubicin and all‑trans retinoic acid for the inhibition of hepatic stellate cell‑induced tumor growth and metastasis

“…Moreover, drug-loaded HA nanoparticles specifically bind to CD44 receptors, which are highly expressed on activated HSCs, thereby enhancing the antitumor effect via CD44 receptor-mediated endocytosis (28,29). The use of drug-loaded HA nanoparticles has been demonstrated in cancer treatment, such as that of breast cancer, HCC and colorectal cancer (30)(31)(32).…”

Melanin and Melanin-Functionalized Nanoparticles as Promising Tools in Cancer Research—A Review

“…Similar conclusions were drawn following the testing on 3D cultured cells, where it was shown that PDA-NPs disintegrated and reduced the viability of HER2+ breast tumor spheroids. Furthermore, the authors showed that the charged PDA-NPs reduced the viability of stromal cells to a lesser extent compared to similar concentrations of PTX [ 100 ].…”