Summary
The aim of this study was to explore the synergistic anti-tumor effects of cytarabine hyaluronic acid-tyramine (Ara-HA-Tyr) hydrogel conjugates and radiotherapy (RT) in the Lewis lung cancer (LLC) xenograft model, and the mechanisms involved. The radiotherapy sensitization ratio (SER) of 0.5 μg cytarabine (Ara-C) was 1.619 in the LLC cells. Ara-HA-Tyr was prepared by encapsulating Ara-C into hyaluronic acid-tyramine (HA-Tyr) conjugates. The hydrogels were formed through the oxidative coupling of tyramines by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Mice engrafted with the LLC cells were given intra-tumoral injections of saline, Ara-C or Ara-HA-Tyr, with or without RT. The combination of Ara-HA-Tyr and RT increased survival compared to free Ara-C and RT (p < 0.05), and prolonged tumor growth delay (TGD). Furthermore, the RT + Ara-HA-Tyr combination therapy significantly reduced 18F-FDG uptake, induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M-phase, increased apoptosis and histone H2AX phosphorylation (γ-H2AX), and decreased the proliferation index (Ki67) in tumor cells compared to either monotherapy. Taken together, Ara-C encapsulated with HA-Tyr effectively sensitized tumor xenografts to RT and showed significantly less systemic toxicity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bernier J, Hall EJ, Giaccia A (2004) Radiation oncology: a century of achievements. Nat Rev Cancer 49:737–747. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1451
Linam J, Yang LX (2015) Recent developments in radiosensitization. Anticancer Res 355:2479–2485
Schiffer CA (2014) Optimal dose and schedule of consolidation in AML: is there a standard? Best Pract Res Clin Haematol 273-4:259–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beha.2014.10.007
Rusch VW, Figlin R, Godwin D, Piantadosi S (1991) Intrapleural cisplatin and cytarabine in the management of malignant pleural effusions: a lung Cancer study group trial. J Clin Oncol 92:313–319. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.1991.9.2.313
Karami L, Jalili S (2015) Effects of cholesterol concentration on the interaction of cytarabine with lipid membranes: a molecular dynamics simulation study. J Biomol Struct Dyn 336:1254–1268. https://doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2014.941936
Benesch M, Urban C (2008) Liposomal cytarabine for leukemic and lymphomatous meningitis: recent developments. Expert Opin Pharmacother 92:301–309. https://doi.org/10.1517/14656566.9.2.301
Spriggs DR, Robbins G, Takvorian T et al (1985) Continuous infusion of high-dose 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine: a phase I and pharmacological study. Cancer Res 458:3932–3936
Liao YH, Jones SA, Forbes B, Martin GP, Brown MB (2005) Hyaluronan: pharmaceutical characterization and drug delivery. J Drug Deliv 126:327–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/10717540590952555
Wang J, Wang X, Cao Y, Huang T, Song D‑X, Tao H‑R (2018) Therapeutic potential of hyaluronic acid/chitosan nanoparticles for the delivery of curcuminoid in knee osteoarthritis and an in vitro evaluation in chondrocytes. Int J Mol Med. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2018.3817
Lokeshwar VB, Mirza S, Jordan A (2014) Targeting hyaluronic acid family for cancer chemoprevention and therapy. Adv Cancer Res 123:35–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-800092-2.00002-2
Lin WJ, Lee WC (2018) Polysaccharide-modified nanoparticles with intelligent CD44 receptor targeting ability for gene delivery. Int J Nanomedicine 13:3989–4002. https://doi.org/10.2147/ijn.s163149
Hatefi A, Amsden B (2002) Biodegradable injectable in situ forming drug delivery systems. J Control Release 801-3:9–28
Kretlow JD, Klouda L, Mikos AG (2007) Injectable matrices and scaffolds for drug delivery in tissue engineering. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 594-5:263–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2007.03.013
Kurisawa M, Chung JE, Yang YY, Gao SJ, Uyama H (2005) Injectable biodegradable hydrogels composed of hyaluronic acid-tyramine conjugates for drug delivery and tissue engineering. Chem Commun 34:4312–4314. https://doi.org/10.1039/b506989k
Lee F, Chung JE, Kurisawa M (2008) An injectable enzymatically crosslinked hyaluronic acid–tyramine hydrogel system with independent tuning of mechanical strength and gelation rate. J Soft Matter 44:880. https://doi.org/10.1039/b719557e
Koga K, Iizuka E, Sato A, Ekimoto H, Okada M (1995) Characteristic antitumor activity of cytarabine ocfosfate against human colorectal adenocarcinoma xenografts in nude mice. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 366:459–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00685794
Skrzypski M, Jassem J (2018) Consolidation systemic treatment after radiochemotherapy for unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Treat Rev 66:114–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2018.04.001
Lawrence TS, Blackstock AW, McGinn C (2003) The mechanism of action of radiosensitization of conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Semin Radiat Oncol 131:13–21. https://doi.org/10.1053/srao.2003.50002
Hirata N, Fujisawa Y, Tanabe K, Harada H, Hiraoka M, Nishimoto SI (2009) Radiolytic activation of a cytarabine prodrug possessing a 2-oxoalkyl group: one-electron reduction and cytotoxicity characteristics. Org Biomol Chem 74:651–654. https://doi.org/10.1039/b816194a
Reese ND, Schiller GJ (2013) High-dose cytarabine (HD araC) in the treatment of leukemias: a review. Curr Hematol Malig Rep 82:141–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-013-0156-3
Ewald B, Sampath D, Plunkett W (2008) Nucleoside analogs: molecular mechanisms signaling cell death. Oncogene 2750:6522–6537. https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2008.316
McGinn CJ, Lawrence TS (2001) Recent advances in the use of radiosensitizing nucleosides. Semin Radiat Oncol 114:270–280
Tsesmetzis N, Paulin CBJ, Rudd SG, Herold N (2018) Nucleobase and nucleoside analogues: resistance and re-sensitisation at the level of pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Metabolism. Cancers (Basel) 107:240. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers10070240
Lawrence TS, Chang EY, Hahn TM et al (1997) Delayed radiosensitization of human colon carcinoma cells after a brief exposure to 2’,2’-difluoro-2’-deoxycytidine (Gemcitabine). Clin Cancer Res 35:777–782
Lee F, Chung JE, Kurisawa M (2009) An injectable hyaluronic acid-tyramine hydrogel system for protein delivery. J Control Release 1343:186–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2008.11.028
Huang G, Huang H (2018) Hyaluronic acid-based biopharmaceutical delivery and tumor-targeted drug delivery system. J Control Release 278:122–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2018.04.015
Wu JL, Tian GX, Yu WJ, Jia GT, Sun TY, Gao ZQ (2016) pH-responsive hyaluronic acid-based mixed micelles for the hepatoma-targeting delivery of doxorubicin. Int J Mol Sci 174:364. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17040364
Kim A, Checkla DM, Dehazya P et al (2003) Characterization of DNA-hyaluronan matrix for sustained gene transfer. J Control Release 901:81–95
Qin Y, Tian Y, Liu Y, Li D, Zhang H, Yang Y, Qi J, Wang H, Gan L (2018) Hyaluronic acid-modified cationic niosomes for ocular gene delivery: improving transfection efficiency in retinal pigment epithelium. J Pharm Pharmacol 709:1139–1151. https://doi.org/10.1111/jphp.12940
Ogawa Y, Kubota K, Ue H et al (2009) Phase I study of a new radiosensitizer containing hydrogen peroxide and sodium hyaluronate for topical tumor injection: a new enzyme-targeting radiosensitization treatment, Kochi Oxydol-radiation therapy for Unresectable carcinomas, type II (KORTUC II). Int J Oncol 343:609–618
Jordan AR, Racine RR, Hennig MJ et al (2015) The role of CD44 in disease pathophysiology and targeted treatment. Front Immunol 6:182. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00182
Yang Y, Zhao Y, Lan J, Kang Y, Zhang T, Ding Y, Zhang X, Lu L (2018) Reduction-sensitive CD44 receptor-targeted hyaluronic acid derivative micelles for doxorubicin delivery. Int J Nanomedicine 13:4361–4378. https://doi.org/10.2147/ijn.s165359
Yoon HY, Koo H, Choi KY, Lee SJ, Kim K, Kwon IC, Leary JF, Park K, Yuk SH, Park JH, Choi K (2012) Tumor-targeting hyaluronic acid nanoparticles for photodynamic imaging and therapy. Biomaterials 3315:3980–3989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.02.016
Xiong H, Ni J, Jiang Z, Tian F, Zhou J, Yao J (2018) Intracellular self-disassemble polysaccharide nanoassembly for multi-factors tumor drug resistance modulation of doxorubicin. Biomater Sci 69:2527–2540. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8bm00570b
Saravanakumar G, Choi KY, Yoon HY, Kim K, Park JH, Kwon IC, Park K (2010) Hydrotropic hyaluronic acid conjugates: synthesis, characterization, and implications as a carrier of paclitaxel. Int J Pharm 3941-2:154–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2010.04.041
Zhao T, He Y, Chen H, Bai Y, Hu W, Zhang L (2017) Novel apigenin-loaded sodium hyaluronate nano-assemblies for targeting tumor cells. Carbohydr Polym 177:415–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.09.007
Fang JS, Gillies RD, Gatenby RA (2008) Adaptation to hypoxia and acidosis in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Semin Cancer Biol 185:330–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcancer.2008.03.011
Shewach DS, Lawrence TS (2007) Antimetabolite radiosensitizers. J Clin Oncol 2526:4043–4050. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2007.11.5287
Sarkisjan D, van den Berg J, Smit E, Lee YB, Kim DJ, Peters GJ (2016) The radiosensitizing effect of fluorocyclopentenyl-cytosine (RX-3117) in ovarian and lung cancer cell lines. Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids 3510-12:619–630. https://doi.org/10.1080/15257770.2016.1216565
Heyer WD, Ehmsen KT, Liu J (2010) Regulation of homologous recombination in eukaryotes. Annu Rev Genet 44:113–139. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genet-051710-150955
Magin S, Papaioannou M, Saha J, Staudt C, Iliakis G (2015) Inhibition of homologous recombination and promotion of mutagenic repair of DNA double-Strand breaks underpins Arabinoside-nucleoside analogue Radiosensitization. Mol Cancer Ther 146:1424–1433. https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.mct-14-0682
Thiemann M, Oertel S, Ehemann V et al (2012) In vivo efficacy of the histone deacetylase inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid in combination with radiotherapy in a malignant rhabdoid tumor mouse model. Radiat Oncol 7:52. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-717x-7-52
Nickoloff JA (2017) Paths from DNA damage and signaling to genome rearrangements via homologous recombination. Mutat Res 806:64–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2017.07.008
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81201682), the Scientific Research Foundation of the Luzhou Science and Technology Bureau (No.2016LZXNYD-J05), and the Southwest Medical University Foundation (No.201617).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
No studies were conducted on human participants. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All animal experiments were implemented in accordance with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Guidelines, and approved by the Institutional Animal Southwest Medical Care and Use Committee (Luzhou, China).
Informed consent
For this type of study, formal consent is not required.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Highlights
• Cytarabine has radio-sensitizing abilities on Lewis lung cancer cells.
• Hyaluronic acid–tyramine conjugates as a cytarabine carrier for intratumoral injection.
• The complexes exhibited radiotherapy sensitization and prolonged the survival time.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tang, J., Wang, N., Wu, J. et al. Synergistic effect and reduced toxicity by intratumoral injection of cytarabine-loaded hyaluronic acid hydrogel conjugates combined with radiotherapy on lung cancer. Invest New Drugs 37, 1146–1157 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-019-00740-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-019-00740-4