Prodrug-based combinational nanomedicine remodels lipid metabolism for reinforced ferroptosis and immune activation

Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death characterized by overwhelmed lipid oxidation, and it has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer therapy. Enhanced ferroptosis could overcome the limitations of conventional therapeutic modalities, particularly in difficult-to-treat tumors. In this s...

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Main Authors: Ling Lin, Zaixiang Fang, Guohao Liu, Yiwei Liu, Zhiqian Li, Dayi Pan, Yunkun Li, Hemi Kang, Xiaoding Shen, Jingyao Zhang, Qiyong Gong, Kui Luo, Jing Jing
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211383525001534
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Summary:Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death characterized by overwhelmed lipid oxidation, and it has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer therapy. Enhanced ferroptosis could overcome the limitations of conventional therapeutic modalities, particularly in difficult-to-treat tumors. In this study, we developed a dual-modality therapy in nanomedicine by combining paclitaxel (PTX) chemotherapy and pyropheophorbide-a (Ppa) phototherapy. Heparin (HP) was grafted with poly(N-(2′-hydroxy) propyl methacrylamide) (pHPMA) using reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization to form HP-pHPMA (HH), which was utilized to deliver Ppa and PTX, yielding HP-pHPMA-Ppa (HH-Ppa) and HP-pHPMA-PTX (HH-PTX), respectively. The prodrug-based combinational nanomedicine (HH-PP) was formed by co-assembly of HH-PTX and HH-Ppa. It was found that HH-PP treatment significantly disrupted lipid metabolism in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells, induced extensive lipid oxidation, and promoted ferroptosis. In vivo, HH-PP intervention achieved a tumor growth inhibition rate of 86.63% and activated adaptive immunity with an elevated CD8+ cytotoxic T cell infiltration level. This combinational nanomedicine offers a promising platform for co-delivery of multiple therapeutic agents. It exerts a promising anti-tumor effect via enhanced ferroptosis and ferroptosis-induced immune activation by disrupting lipid metabolism in TNBC cancer cells.
ISSN:2211-3835