程建军, 杨鑫*. 三萜天然小分子自组装机制及其协同抗癌应用研究J. 药学学报, 2021,56(8): 2102-2111. doi: 10.16438/j.0513-4870.2021-0617
引用本文: 程建军, 杨鑫*. 三萜天然小分子自组装机制及其协同抗癌应用研究J. 药学学报, 2021,56(8): 2102-2111. doi: 10.16438/j.0513-4870.2021-0617
CHENG Jian-jun, YANG Xin*. Self-assembly performance of triterpene natural small molecules and their application in synergistic antitumor chemotherapyJ. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica, 2021,56(8): 2102-2111. doi: 10.16438/j.0513-4870.2021-0617
Citation: CHENG Jian-jun, YANG Xin*. Self-assembly performance of triterpene natural small molecules and their application in synergistic antitumor chemotherapyJ. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica, 2021,56(8): 2102-2111. doi: 10.16438/j.0513-4870.2021-0617

三萜天然小分子自组装机制及其协同抗癌应用研究

Self-assembly performance of triterpene natural small molecules and their application in synergistic antitumor chemotherapy

  • 摘要: 天然生物相容性材料如兼具抗癌活性及自组装功能的萜类小分子天然产物,在生物医学领域展现出巨大的潜力和应用前景。然而,其分子自组装结构的机制并未深入系统性研究,且作为活性载体用于药物输送的研究工作报道较少。因此,本研究进一步探讨了四环三萜麦角甾醇、豆甾醇及五环三萜甘草次酸和熊果酸的分子组装机制,并揭示萜类小分子自组装可能存在的共性规律。研究表明,分子排列的共面性和有序性是影响其自组装成球、杆或片层等结构的可能主要因素之一。此外,以抗癌活性良好的麦角甾醇(ergosterol,ET)为代表物,通过氢键及π-π共轭等弱作用力装载紫杉醇(paclitaxel,PTX)成功构建协同抗肿瘤纳米试剂ET-PTX NPs,并根据哈尔滨医科大学实验动物研究中心批准的方案实施荷瘤小鼠抗癌疗效评估,发现所制备的纳米药物具备明显增强体内外抗癌活性及优异的生物安全性,再次证实萜类天然小分子作为药物输送体系潜在的医学价值。本研究为探索天然产物自组装分子结构提供一定的理论依据,并为开发活性天然生物相容性纳米材料用于协同抗癌药物输送及其他生物医学应用提供潜在的参考价值。

     

    Abstract: Natural biocompatible nanomaterials such as self-assembled triterpene natural small molecule products with favorable anticancer activity show great potential for biomedical application. However, the mechanisms of their molecular self-assembled structures have not been investigated systematically, while there are still few reports of the natural active carrier for drug delivery. Herein, in this work, we further explored the molecular assembly mechanism and common regularity of tetracyclic triterpenes ergosterol, stigmasterol as well as pentacyclic triterpenes glycyrrhetinic acid and ursolic acid, which suggested that the coplanarity and orderliness of molecular arrangements which are speculated to be responsible for their self-assembly into the spherical, rod-like or lamellar nanostructure. Besides, ergosterol (ET) with better anticancer activity was chosen as a representative substance for construction of the synergistic antitumor nanodrug. By intermolecular hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking, chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX) was encapsulated into ET-PTX NPs successfully. Then, the anti-cancer efficacy of the tumor-bearing mice was evaluated according to the protocol approved by the Experimental Animal Research Center of Harbin Medical University. The resulting nanodrug exhibited excellent biosafety and enhanced in vivo anticancer activity efficiency of 52.3%, higher than free PTX (29.4%) or ET NPs (32.5%) alone, further verifying the potential medical application value of triterpene natural products. This work provides not only a theoretical basis for exploring the self-assembly behavior of small molecule natural products, but also a promising perspective for the fabrication of active natural biocompatible nanodrug delivery systems for synergistic antitumor therapy and other biomedical applications.

     

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