Superior Results: New Green Tea-Based Nanocarriers Kill Liver Cancer Cells

In 2014, IBN researchers led by Dr Kurisawa created self-assembling nanocarriers from epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), a known antioxidant found in green tea, and Herceptin, a breast cancer drug. Those nanocarriers could load and deliver more drugs to the cancer cells, and killed them more effectively than other formulations of the drug (Nature Nanotechnology, 2014). 

Now, the team has applied the same approach to make new nanocarriers from EGCG and Doxorubicin, which can carry up to 88% of their weight in drugs. Doxorubicin is used to treat a variety of different cancers, such as that of the breast, bladder and liver, as well as leukemia. IBN’s green tea-Doxorubicin nanocarriers were tested in a liver cancer mouse model and displayed superior tumor-killing performance and stability with minimal unwanted toxicity, when compared with two other clinical formulations of Doxorubicin.

“This study corroborates our earlier findings and demonstrates the versatility of our green tea-based carrier system. We are excited about the potential of using our technology as a universal vehicle for delivering other chemotherapeutics to treat different types of cancer,” said IBN Executive Director Professor Jackie Ying.

Credit: A*STAR

The uniqueness of IBN’s nanocarrier lies in the strong intermolecular interaction between the structurally similar EGCG and small molecule anti-cancer drugs. This interaction facilitates drug loading and also provides excellent thermodynamic and kinetic stability to the carrier.

According to Dr Kurisawa, “The unprecedented amount of drug loading in our new nanocarriers allows us to kill more liver cancer cells effectively. We are hopeful that our technology would lead to fewer side effects in patients.”

The researchers are now evaluating the loading of other types of drugs in the carrier.

Contacts and sources:
Elena Tan / Nidyah Sani
The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR

References:
K. Liang, J. E. Chung, S. J. Gao, N. Yongvongsoontorn and M. Kurisawa, “Highly Augmented Drug Loading and Stability of Micellar Nanocomplexes Composed of Doxorubicin and Poly(ethylene glycol)-Green Tea Catechin Conjugate for Cancer Therapy,” Advanced Materials, (2018) 1706963.