Saw PE, Xu X, Kang BR, Lee J, Lee YS, Kim C, Kim H, Kang SH, Na YJ, Moon HJ, Kim JH, Park YK, Yoon W, Kim JH, Kwon TH, Choi C, Jon S, Chong K. Extra-domain B of fibronectin as an alternative target for drug delivery and a cancer diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for malignant glioma.
Am J Cancer Res 2021;
11:941-957. [PMID:
33391514 PMCID:
PMC7738868 DOI:
10.7150/thno.44948]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Extra-domain B of fibronectin (EDB-FN) is an alternatively spliced form of fibronectin with high expression in the extracellular matrix of neovascularized tissues and malignant cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated the practicality of using EDB-FN as a biomarker and therapeutic target for malignant gliomas (MGs), representative intractable diseases involving brain tumors.
Methods: The microarray- and sequence-based patient transcriptomic database 'Oncopression' and tissue microarray of MG patient tissue samples were analyzed. EDB-FN data were extracted and evaluated from 23,344 patient samples of 17 types of cancer to assess its effectiveness and selectivity as a molecular target. To strengthen the results of the patient data analysis, the utility of EDB-FN as a molecular marker and target for MG was verified using active EDB-FN-targeting ultrasmall lipidic micellar nanoparticles (~12 nm), which had a high drug-loading capacity and were efficiently internalized by MG cells in vitro and in vivo.
Results: Brain tumors had a 1.42-fold cancer-to-normal ratio (p < 0.0001), the second highest among 17 cancers after head and neck cancer. Patient tissue microarray analysis showed that the EDB-FN high-expression group had a 5.5-fold higher risk of progression than the EDB-FN low-expression group (p < 0.03). By labeling docetaxel-containing ultrasmall micelles with a bipodal aptide targeting EDB-FN (termed APTEDB-DSPE-DTX), we generated micelles that could specifically bind to MG cells, leading to superior antitumor efficacy of EDB-FN-targeting nanoparticles compared to nontargeting controls.
Conclusions: Taken together, these results show that EDB-FN can be an effective drug delivery target and biomarker for MG.
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