Reversibly “double locked” hydroxycamptothecin prodrug nanoparticles for targeted chemotherapy of lung cancer

Prodrug assembled nanoparticles integrate the merits of both prodrug and nanoparticle, which significantly improve pharmacokinetic parameters, enhance tumorous accumulation and decrease adverse effects, while they are challenged by disassembly upon dilution in blood, masking the superiority of nanoparticles (NPs). Herein, a reversibly "double locked" hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) prodrug nanoparticle decorated with cyclic RGD peptide (cRGD) is developed for safe and efficient chemotherapy of orthotopic lung cancer in mice. HCPT prodrug is constructed from acetal (ace)-linked cRGD-PEG-ace-HCPT-ace-acrylate polymer, which is self-assembled into the nanoparticles with "the first lock" of HCPT. Then the nanoparticles undergo the in situ UV-crosslinking of the acrylate residues for constructing "the second lock" of HCPT. The obtained "double locked" nanoparticles (T-DLHN) with simple and well-defined construction are demonstrated to possess extremely high stability against 100-fold dilution and acid-triggered "unlock" including de-crosslinking and liberation of the pristine HCPT. In an orthotopic lung tumor of mouse model, T-DLHN reveals a prolonged circulation time of about 5.0 h, superb lung tumor-homing capacity with tumorous drug uptake of about 7.15%ID/g, resulting in significantly boosted anti-tumor activity and reduced adverse effects. Hence, these nanoparticles utilizing "double lock" and acid-triggered "unlock" strategies represent a unique and promising nanoplatform for safe and efficient drug delivery. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Prodrug assembled nanoparticles have the unique properties of the well-defined structure, systemic stability, improved pharmacokinetics, passive targeting and decreased adverse effects. However, prodrug assembled NPs would disassemble against extensive dilution in the blood circulation when intravenously injected into the body. Herein, we have designed a cRGD-directed reversibly "double-locked" HCPT prodrug nanoparticle (T-DLHN) for safe and efficient chemotherapy of orthotopic A549 human lung tumor xenografts. Upon intravenous injection, T-DLHN can overcome the shortcoming of disassembly against extensive dilution, prolong the circulation time due to the "double locked" configuration and then mediate targeted drug delivery into the tumors. After uptaken into the cells, T-DLHN undergoes concurrent de-crosslinking and liberation of HCPT under acidic condition for enhanced chemotherapeutic efficacy with negligible adverse effects.