Leukocytes as Mobile Carriers of Anti-Cancer Therapeutics via Bispecific Liposomes

摘要

A liposomal formulation method of TRAIL and ES has been established. The TRAIL/ES liposomes can kill cancer cells efficiently, and maintain their physical stability when stored as powder at -80°C. The liposome formulations can efficiently functionalize leukocytes in whole blood under shear force. The formulation also greatly extended the circulation life of TRAIL to ～72 h. These results strongly support TRAIL/ES liposome's potential to functionalize leukocytes in vivo and therefore convert them into "circulating hunters" of CTCs. We have also successfully established a murine orthotopic model to mimic the clinical setting of metastatic human breast cancer. Animal studies to assess the efficacy of TRAIL/ES liposomes in preventing tumor metastasis is ongoing in our lab. We expect that anticancer protein hitchhike on circulating leukocytes via liposomes could represent an effective strategy to directly target and kill CTCs for the prevention of cancer metastasis.