Aptamer-engineered multivalent camptothecin conjugates synergistically orchestrate immunosuppressive microenvironment and DNA damage cascades in colorectal carcinomaShow others and affiliations
2025 (English)In: Chemical Engineering Journal, ISSN 1385-8947, E-ISSN 1873-3212, Vol. 525, article id 170036Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Achieving the synergistic optimization among drug-loading capacity, targeting efficacy, and therapeutic potential persists as a critical challenge in the design and development of aptamer-drug conjugate (ApDC). Herein, an innovatively engineered tetra-armed trisubstituted benzene trimer-based linker incorporated multivalent moderately potent chemotherapeutic camptothecin (CPT) and site-specifically conjugated with the aptamer AS1411 to yield the tumor-microenvironment-responsive conjugate AS-CPT-4, self-assembling into well-defined nanoparticles (AS-CPT-4 NPs). The AS-CPT-4 NPs, endowing with dual active-passive targeting capabilities, manifested concurrent enhancement of tumor-specific accumulation and systemic safety profiles. Mechanistically, AS-CPT-4 NPs concurrently induced Topoisomerase I-mediated DNA lesion formation while abrogating CPT-induced NF-κB activation via AS1411-modulated IkK pathway inhibition. Interestingly, AS1411 was initially discovered in conjugates to reprogram the immunosuppressive tumor niche by augmenting CD8+ T cell infiltration while concomitantly depleting CD4+ T cell populations. In a colon carcinoma mouse model, AS-CPT-4 NPs abrogated off-target toxicity completely and achieved a potent 81.8 % tumor suppression rate, over double the efficacy of the clinically administered hydroxycamptothecin. This research achieved multifaceted enhancement of drug-loading capacity, targeting precision, and therapeutic outcomes through site-specific conjugation technology, thereby establishing a pioneering paradigm for expanding the therapeutic scope of moderately potent cytotoxic agents and overcoming the dual impediments of chemoresistance and immunosuppression.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025. Vol. 525, article id 170036
Keywords [en]
Aptamer-drug conjugate, AS1411, Camptothecin, Chemoresistance and immunosuppression, T cell subset reprogramming
National Category
Medical Biotechnology (Focus on Cell Biology, (incl. Stem Cell Biology), Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry or Biopharmacy) Cancer and Oncology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-246336DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.170036Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105020254948OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-246336DiVA, id: diva2:2014361
2025-11-172025-11-172025-11-17Bibliographically approved