title: Follicle-stimulating hormone polypeptide modified nanoparticle drug delivery system in the treatment of lymphatic metastasis during ovarian carcinoma therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Traditional chemotherapy drugs have an obvious drawback of nonspecific biodistribution in treating ovarian cancer. Follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR), a G-protein coupled receptor which is mainly expressed in reproductive system, is an important drug target in developing novel therapeutics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a polypeptide of follicle-stimulating hormone (named as FSHP), a conjugated nanoparticle, FSHP-NP was developed to target FSHR in lymphatic metastasis of ovarian cancer. FSHP-NP was tested for recognition specificity and uptake efficiency on FSHR-expressing cells. A paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded FSHP-NP (FSHP-NP-PTX) was further developed and its anti-tumor effect was determined in vivo and in vitro.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Taking NuTu-19 cells as an example, FSHP-NP-PTX displayed significantly stronger anti-cell proliferative and anti-tumor effects in a dose- and time-dependent manner when compared with free PTX or naked PTX-loaded nanoparticles (NP-PTX) in vitro. In vivo examinations showed that the size and weight of the lymph nodes were reduced in the FSHP-NP-PTX group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FSHR as a novel therapeutic target in ovarian cancer and delivery of PTX via conjugated nanoparticle (FSHP-NP) might represent a new therapeutic approach in ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine Related Diseases, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine Related Diseases, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine Related Diseases, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yingtao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine Related Diseases, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: xucongjian@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Congjian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004337:Drug Carriers; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D053758:Nanoparticles; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone
keywords: Follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR); Follicle-stimulating hormone polypeptide (FSHP); Lymphatic metastasis; Ovarian carcinoma; Paclitaxel (PTX)