Abstract
Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) represent a key barrier to successful therapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). CSCs promote the emergence of chemoresistance, triggering relapse and resulting in a poor prognosis. We herein present CDF-TM, a new small molecule-based binary prodrug conjugated with SN-38 and 3,4-difluorobenzylidene curcumin (CDF) that is specifically activated in hypoxic conditions. CDF-TM treatment significantly induced apoptosis in TNBC-derived 3D spheroids, accompanied with caspase-3 activation as well as the attenuation of tumor stemness with evidence of reduction in aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) activity and the CD44high/CD24low phenotype. An in vivo orthotopic allograft model was used to investigate its effects on tumor growth and metastasis. The dissemination of CSCs from primary allografts was impaired by CDF-TM, along with inhibition of tumor growth via eradication of CSCs and downregulation of multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1). This new small molecule-based binary prodrug offers a novel therapeutic option for metastatic TNBC.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 121781 |
Journal | Biomaterials |
Volume | 289 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2022 Oct |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by a grant from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare , Republic of Korea (grant number: HR20C0021 ), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) (grant number: 2018R1A3B1052702 , 2019M3E5D1A01068998 , 2021R1A2C2009723 , 2019H1A2A1074096 ), and was supported by the Brain Korea (BK) 21 Plus Program .
Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: HR20C0021), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) (grant number: 2018R1A3B1052702, 2019M3E5D1A01068998, 2021R1A2C2009723, 2019H1A2A1074096), and was supported by the Brain Korea (BK) 21 Plus Program.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Binary prodrug
- Cancer stem cells
- MDR1
- Metastasis
- Triple-negative breast cancer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Mechanics of Materials
- Ceramics and Composites
- Bioengineering
- Biophysics
- Biomaterials