2. Academic Validation
  3. Amifostine-Loaded Nanocarrier Traverses the Blood-Brain Barrier and Prevents Radiation-Induced Brain Injury

Amifostine-Loaded Nanocarrier Traverses the Blood-Brain Barrier and Prevents Radiation-Induced Brain Injury

  • ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Mar 14. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c00502.
XiaoHui Zhao 1 2,  JinPing Cheng 3,  Shushu Gui 1,  Meng Jiang 1,  Dawei Qi 4,  Jianghua Huang 2,  Liren Fu 2,  Shijie Liu 2,  Yujia Ma 2,  Juntian Shi 2,  Zairui Wang 2,  Weike Zeng 5,  Xiumei Li 5,  Kejia Liu 3,  Yamei Tang 1 3 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Medical Research Center, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
  • 2 Department of Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
  • 3 Department of Neurology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
  • 4 MediCity Research Laboratory, University of Turku, Tykistökatu 6, 20520 Turku, Finland.
  • 5 Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
  • 6 Brain Research Center, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
  • 7 Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
PMID: 36917732 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c00502
Abstract

Radiation-induced brain injury (RIBI) is a severe, irreversible, or even life-threatening cerebral complication of radiotherapy in patients with head and neck tumors, and there is no satisfying prevention and effective treatment available for these patients. Amifostine (AMF) is a well-known free radical scavenger with demonstrated effectiveness in preventing radiation-induced toxicity. However, the limited permeability of AMF across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) when administered intravenously reduces the effectiveness of AMF in preventing RIBI. Herein, we construct a nanoparticle (NP) platform for BBB delivery of AMF. AMF is conjugated with 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-n-[poly(ethylene glycol)]-hydroxy succinamide [DSPE-PEG-NHS, PEG M 2000], and the product is DSPE-PEG-AMF. Then, the nanoparticles (DAPP NPs) were formed by self-assembly of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), DSPE-PEG-AMF, and polysorbate 80 (PS 80). PEG shields the nanoparticles from blood clearance by the reticuloendothelial system and lengthens the drug circulation time. PS 80 is used to encapsulate nanoparticles for medication delivery to the brain. The results of our study showed that DAPP NPs were able to effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in healthy C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, in a well-established mouse model of X-knife-induced brain injury, treatment with DAPP NPs (corresponding to 250 mg/kg AMF) was found to significantly reduce the volume of brain necrosis compared to mice treated with AMF (250 mg/kg). Importantly, the use of DAPP NPs was also shown to significantly mitigate the effects of radiation-induced neuronal damage and glial activation. This work presents a convenient brain-targeted AMF delivery system to achieve effective radioprotection for the brain, providing a promising strategy with tremendous clinical translation potential.

Keywords

blood−brain barrier; free radical scavenging; intravenous administration; nanoradioprotector; radiation-induced brain injury.

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