Abstract
Purpose. To investigate the usefulness of wheat germ agglutinin as a targeting carrier protein for an acid-labile chemotherapeutic prodrug directed against colon carcinoma cells in vitro.
Methods. Cis-aconityl-linked doxorubicin-wheat germ agglutinin was prepared by a two step procedure and the conjugate-binding capacity of target- and non-target cells was assayed by flow cytometry. The antiproliferative activity of the prodrug on Caco-2 and MOLT-4 cells was determined by the XTT- and BrdU-test and compared with that of the parent drug and the lectin alone.
Results. At pH 4.0, about 50% of the conjugated doxorubicin were released within 24 h from the water soluble prodrug exhibiting a conjugation number of 24 (mol doxorubicin/mol WGA). The prodrug-binding capacity of colon carcinoma cells exceeded that of human colonocytes and lymphoblastic MOLT-4 cells 4.5-fold. Additionally, the antiproliferative effect of the conjugate on Caco-2 cells was 39% as opposed to 5% in case of MOLT-4 cells. As the unmodified carrier protein inhibited or stimulated Caco-2 cell growth in a concentration-dependent manner, the cytostatic activity of the conjugate was determined at WGA concentrations without an effect on cell-proliferation. Considering 50% release of conjugated drug at the most, the prodrug yielded 160% of the cytostatic activity of free doxorubicin.
Conclusions. WGA-prodrug targeting offers new perspectives for site-specific, cytoinvading drug delivery in colon cancer chemotherapy.
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Wirth, M., Fuchs, A., Wolf, M. et al. Lectin-Mediated Drug Targeting: Preparation, Binding Characteristics, and Antiproliferative Activity of Wheat Germ Agglutinin Conjugated Doxorubicin on Caco-2 Cells. Pharm Res 15, 1031–1037 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011926026653
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011926026653