Skip to main content

Ultra-small lipid nanoparticles encapsulating sorafenib and midkine-siRNA selectively-eradicate sorafenib-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo

Research Authors
Mahmoud A Younis, Ikramy A Khalil, Yaser HA Elewa, Yasuhiro Kon, Hideyoshi Harashima
Research Department
Research Journal
Journal of controlled release
Research Publisher
Elsevier
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
331
Research Website
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365921000304#ab0005
Research Year
2021
Research Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a fatal disease with limited therapeutic choices. The stroma-rich tumor microenvironment hinders the in vivo delivery of most nanomedicines. Ultra-small lipid nanoparticles (usLNPs) were designed for the selective co-delivery of the cytotoxic drug, sorafenib (SOR), and siRNA against the Midkine gene (MK-siRNA) to HCC in mice. The usLNPs composed of a novel pH-sensitive lipid, a diversity of phospholipids and a highly-selective targeting peptide. A microfluidic device, iLiNP, was used and a variety of factors were controlled to tune particle size aiming at maximizing tumor penetration efficiency. Optimizing the composition and physico-chemical properties of the usLNPs resulted in an enhanced tumor accumulation, selectivity and in vivo gene silencing. The optimized usLNPs exerted potent gene silencing in the tumor (median effective dose, ED50~0.1 mg/Kg) with limited effect on the healthy liver. The novel combination synergistically-eradicated HCC in mice (~85%) at a surprisingly-low dose of SOR (2.5 mg/Kg) which could not be achieved via individual monotherapy. Toxicity studies revealed the biosafety of the usLNPs upon either acute or chronic treatment. Furthermore, the SOR-resistant HCC established in mice was eradicated by 70% using this approach. We conclude that our strategy is promising for potential clinical applications in HCC treatment.