Targeting EGFR of triple-negative breast cancer enhances the therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel- and cetuximab-conjugated nanodiamond nanocomposite.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the lack of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). However, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is highly expressed in most of the TNBCs, which may provide a potential target for EGFR targeting therapy. Nanodiamond (ND) is a carbon-based nanomaterial with several advantages, including fluorescence emission, biocompatibility, and drug delivery applications. In this study, we designed a nanocomposite by using ND conjugated with paclitaxel (PTX) and cetuximab (Cet) for targeting therapy on the EGFR-positive TNBC cells. ND-PTX inhibited cell viability and induced mitotic catastrophe in various human breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and BT474); in contrast, ND alone did not induce cell death. ND-PTX inhibited the xenografted human breast tumors in nude mice. We further investigated ND-PTX-Cet drug efficacy on the TNBC of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. ND-PTX-Cet could specifically bind to EGFR and enhanced the anticancer effects including drug uptake levels, mitotic catastrophe, and apoptosis in the EGFR-expressed MDA-MB-231 cells but not in the EGFR-negative MCF-7 cells. In addition, ND-PTX-Cet increased the protein levels of active caspase-3 and phospho-histone H3 (Ser10). Furthermore, ND-PTX-Cet showed more effective on the reduction of TNBC tumor volume by comparison with ND-PTX. Taken together, these results demonstrated that ND-PTX-Cet nanocomposite enhanced mitotic catastrophe and apoptosis by targeting EGFR of TNBC cells, which can provide a feasible strategy for TNBC therapy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Current TNBC treatment is ineffective against the survival rate of TNBC patients. Therefore, the development of new treatment strategies for TNBC patients is urgently needed. Here, we have designed a nanocomposite by targeting on the EGFR of TNBC to enhance therapeutic efficacy by ND-conjugated PTX and Cet (ND-PTX-Cet). Interestingly, we found that the co-delivery of Cet and PTX by ND enhanced the apoptosis, mitotic catastrophe and tumor inhibition in the EGFR-expressed TNBC in vitro and in vivo. Consequently, this nanocomposite ND-PTX-Cet can be applied for targeting EGFR of human TNBC therapy.

• Authors: Wei-Siang Liao, Yu Ho, Yu-Wei Lin, Emmanuel Naveen Raj, Kuang-Kai Liu, Chinpiao Chen, Xiao-Zhen Zhou, Kun-Ping Lu, Jui-I Chao
• Journal: Acta biomaterialia (Acta Biomater) Vol. 86 Pg. 395-405 (03 01 2019) ISSN: 1878-7568 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 30660004 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Histones
• Nanodiamonds
• ErbB Receptors
• Paclitaxel
• Cetuximab

Topics

• Adult
• Animals
• Apoptosis (drug effects)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cell Survival (drug effects)
• Cetuximab (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Endocytosis (drug effects)
• ErbB Receptors (metabolism)
• Female
• Histones (metabolism)
• Humans
• Mice, Nude
• Mitosis (drug effects)
• Nanocomposites (chemistry)
• Nanodiamonds (chemistry)
• Paclitaxel (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Phosphorylation (drug effects)
• Treatment Outcome
• Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms (drug therapy, metabolism, pathology)
• Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays