Sensitizing basal-like breast cancer to chemotherapy using nanoparticles conjugated with interference peptide

Nanoscale. 2016 Apr 28;8(17):9343-53. doi: 10.1039/c5nr08331a.

Abstract

Basal-like breast cancers are highly aggressive malignancies associated with very poor prognosis. Although these cancers may initially respond to first-line treatment, they become highly resistant to standard chemotherapy in the metastatic setting. Chemotherapy resistance in basal-like breast cancers is associated with highly selective overexpression of the homeobox transcription factor Engrailed 1 (EN1). Herein, we propose a novel therapeutic strategy using poly(glycidyl methacrylate) nanoparticles decorated with poly(acrylic acid) that enable dual delivery of docetaxel and interference peptides designed to block or inhibit EN1 (EN1-iPep). We demonstrate that EN1-iPep is highly selective in inducing apoptotic cell death in basal-like cancer cells with negligible effects in a non-neoplastic human mammary epithelial cell line. Furthermore, we show that treatment with EN1-iPep results in a highly synergistic pharmacological interaction with docetaxel in inhibiting cancer cell growth. The incorporation of these two agents in a single nanoformulation results in greater anticancer efficacy than current nanoparticle-based treatments used in the clinical setting.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / administration & dosage*
  • Apoptosis
  • Breast Neoplasms
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Docetaxel
  • Drug Delivery Systems*
  • Homeodomain Proteins / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Peptides
  • Taxoids / administration & dosage

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • EN1 protein, human
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Peptides
  • Taxoids
  • Docetaxel