title: Doxorubicin-loaded platelets as a smart drug delivery system: An improved therapy for lymphoma.
abstract: Chemotherapy is majorly used for the treatment of many cancers, including lymphoma. However, cytotoxic drugs, utilized in chemotherapy, can induce various side effects on normal tissues because of their non-specific distribution in the body. Natural platelets are used as drug carriers because of their biocompatibility and specific targeting to vascular disorders, such as cancer, inflammation, and thrombosis. In this work, doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded in natural platelets for treatment of lymphoma. Results showed that DOX was loaded into platelets with high drug loading and encapsulation efficiency. DOX did not significantly induce morphological and functional changes in platelets. DOX-platelet facilitated intracellular drug accumulation through "tumor cell-induced platelet aggregation" and released DOX into the medium in a pH-controlled manner. This phenomenon reduced the adverse effects and enhanced the therapeutic efficacy. The growth inhibition of lymphoma Raji cells was enhanced, and the cardiotoxicity of DOX was reduced when DOX was loaded in platelets. DOX-platelet improved the anti-tumor activity of DOX by regulating the expression of apoptosis-related genes. Thus, platelets can serve as potential drug carriers to deliver DOX for clinical treatment of lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Peipei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Huaqin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ruju
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Arsalan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ouyang