Sialic Acid Engineered Prodrug Nanoparticles for Codelivery of Bortezomib and Selenium in Tumor Bearing Mice

Most cancer patients rarely benefit from monodrug therapy because of both cancer complexity and tumor environment. One of the main reasons for this failure is insufficient accumulation of the optimal dose at the tumorous site. Our investigation implies a promising strategy to engineer prodrug nanoparticles (NPs) of bortezomib (BTZ) and selenium (Se) using sialic acid (SAL) as a ligand to improve breast cancer therapy. BTZ was conjugated with SAL and HPMA (N-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylamide) to prepare a prodrug conjugate; BTZ-SAL-HPMA (BSAL-HP) and then fabricated into prodrug NPs with Se (Se_BSAL-HP prodrug NPs). The self-assembly of prodrug NPs functionalized with Se showed size (204.13 ± 0.02 nm) and zeta potential (−31.0 ± 0.11 mV) in dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments and spherical shape in TEM and SEM analysis. Good stability and low pH drug release profile were characterized by Se_BSAL-HP prodrug NPs. The tumor-selective boronate-ester-based prodrug NPs of BTZ in combination with Se endowed a synergistic effect against cancer cells. Compared to prodrug conjugate, Se_BSAL-HP prodrug NPs exhibited higher cell cytotoxicity and enhanced cellular internalization with significant changes in mitochondria membrane potential (MMP). Elevated apoptosis was observed in the (G2/M) phase of the cell cycle for Se_BSAL-HP prodrug NPs (2.7-fold) higher than BTZ. In vivo studies were performed on Sprague–Dawley rats and resulted in positive trends. The increased therapeutic activity of Se_BSAL-HP prodrug NPs inhibited primary tumor growth and showed 43.05 fold decrease in tumor volume than the control in 4T1 tumor bearing mice. The surprising and remarkable outcomes for Se_BSAL-HP prodrug NPs were probably due to the ROS triggering effect of boronate ester and selenium given together.