Fabrication of Ginsenoside-Based Nanodrugs for Enhanced Antitumor Efficacy on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Shuting Zuo, Jing Wang, Xianquan An, Zhenyu Wang, Xiao Zheng, Yan Zhang
Abstract
There is an urgent need to identify chemotherapeutic agents with improved efficacy and safety against triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Ginsenosides can reportedly induce tumor cell death, invasion, and metastasis; however, poor water solubility, low oral absorption rate, and rapid blood clearance limit their clinical application. Utilizing the amphiphilic property of ginsenosides as building blocks of biomaterials, we fabricated a carrier-free nanodrug composed of ginsenosides Rg3 and Rb1 using a nano-reprecipitation method without any additional carriers. After characterizing and demonstrating their uniform morphology and pH-sensitive drug release properties, we observed that Rg3-Rb1 nanoparticles (NPs) exhibited stronger antitumor and anti-invasive effects on TNBCs in vitro than those mediated by free ginsenosides. Consequently, Rg3-Rb1 NPs afforded superior inhibition of tumor growth and reduction of pulmonary metastasis than the Rg3 and Rb1 mixture, with no obvious systematic toxicity in vivo . Collectively, our results provide a proof-of-concept that self-assembled engineered ginsenoside nanodrugs may be efficient and safe for TNBC therapy.