Improvement of chemosensitivity and inhibition of migration via targeting tumor epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition cells by ADH-1-modified liposomes

How to overcome drug resistance and prevent tumor metastasis is key to the success of malignant tumor therapy. In this paper, ADH-1 peptide-modified liposomes (A-LP) have been successfully constructed for restoring chemosensitivity and suppressing cancer cell migration. With a particle size of about 90 nm, this functionalized nanocarrier was loaded with fluorescent probe or paclitaxel (PTX). Cellular uptake studies showed that A-LP facilitated the delivery of anticancer drug to tumor cells undergoing EMT. Interestingly, this nanocarrier enhanced chemosensitivity by assessing the cell activity using CCK-8 assay. Further, the results of Wound scratch assay and Transwell migration assay showed the inhibition effect of this nanocarrier on tumor cell migration. Moreover, this nanocarrier exhibited significant tumor-targeting ability and anti-tumor efficacy in vivo. Collectively, A-LP might be a novel targeted drug delivery system to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy and prevent tumor metastasis.