The Chemo-Immunotherapeutic Roles of Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicle-Based Paclitaxel Delivery System in Hepatocarcinoma

Abstract

As a first-line chemotherapeutic agent, albumin-bound paclitaxel (PA) has a considerable effect on the treatment of various cancers. However, in chemotherapy for hepatocarcinoma, the sensitivity to PA is low owing to the innate resistance of hepatocarcinoma cells; the toxicity and side effects are severe, and the clinical treatment impact is poor. In this study, we present a unique nanodrug delivery system. The ultraviolet (UV)-induced tumor-cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) were isolated and purified by differential centrifugation. Then, PA was loaded by coextrusion to create a vesicle drug delivery system (EVPA). By employing the EV-dependent enhanced retention effect and specific homing effect, EVPA would passively and actively target tumor tissues, activate the immune response to release PA, and achieve the combination therapeutic effect of chemo-immunotherapy on hepatocarcinoma. We demonstrated that the tumor-killing effect of EVPA is superior to that of PA, both in vivo and in vitro and that EVPA can be effectively taken up by hepatocarcinoma and dendritic cells, activate the body’s specific immune response, promote the infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in tumor tissues, and exert a precise killing effect on hepatocarcinoma cells via chemo-immunotherapy.