Title:Research on the Inhibitory Effect of Doxorubicin-loaded Liposomes Targeting GFAP
for Glioma Cells
Volume: 24
Issue: 3
Author(s): Qifeng Li*Jiaming Xu
Affiliation:
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hangzhou Children's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310000, China
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery,
Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
Keywords:
Glioma, glial fibrillary acidic protein, liposome, doxorubicin, antitumor, anti-tumor activity.
Abstract:
Background: Glioma is the most common and devastating brain tumor. In recent years, doxorubicin
(DOX) is one of the drugs used in the treatment of gliomas, but it has side effects and poor clinical outcomes.
Therefore, the delivery of drugs to the tumor site by targeted transport is a new approach to tumor treatment.
Objective: This study focuses on the anti-tumor effects of GFAP-modified drug-carrying liposomes loaded with
DOX (GFAP-DOX-LPs) on gliomas.
Methods: GFAP-DOX-LPs were prepared by solvent evaporation method. After characterization analysis of
GFAP-DOX-LPs, the encapsulation efficiency, the drug loading capacity and in vitro release performance were
determined. Then, the MTT method was used to investigate the cytotoxicity and proliferative behavior of U251
and U87 cell lines. After that, flow cytometry was used to investigate the effect of the drug administration group
on tumor cell apoptosis. Eventually, the anti-tumor activity was tested in vivo.
Results: The average particle size of GFAP-DOX-LPs was determined to be 116.3 ± 6.2 nm, and the average
potential was displayed as 22.8 ± 7.2 mv. Besides, the morphology of the particle indicated a spherical shape. The
encapsulation rate and drug loading were calculated and determined, which were 91.84 ± 0.41% and 9.27 ±
0.55%. In an acidic medium, the DOX release rate reached about 87%. GFAP-DOX-LPs could target glioma cells
with low cytotoxicity and inhibit glioma cell proliferation with high efficiency, resulting in promoting apoptosis.
The anti-tumor effect of GFAP-DOX-LPs was significantly enhanced. At the same time, the number of GFAPpositive
cells in tumor tissues was significantly lower after treatment. Therefore, the overall survival time could
be significantly prolonged.
Conclusion: The prepared GFAP-DOX-LPs had good targeting and glioma cell inhibition ability. This demonstrated
the promising application of the prepared liposomes in tumor targeting, especially in the field of targeted
drug delivery for the treatment of brain tumor.
