Sialic acid-modified solid lipid nanoparticles as vascular endothelium-targeting carriers for ischemia-reperfusion-induced acute renal injury

Glucocorticoids-based prodrug design: Current strategies and research progress

Attributing to their broad pharmacological effects encompassing anti-inflammation, antitoxin, and immunosuppression, glucocorticoids (GCs) are extensively utilized in the clinic for the treatment of diverse diseases such as lupus erythematosus, nephritis, arthritis, ulcerative colitis, asthma, keratitis, macular edema, and leukemia. However, long-term use often causes undesirable side effects, including metabolic disorders-induced Cushing's syndrome (buffalo back, full moon face, hyperglycemia, etc.), osteoporosis, aggravated infection, psychosis, glaucoma, and cataract. These notorious side effects seriously compromise patients' quality of life, especially in patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, glucocorticoid-based advanced drug delivery systems for reducing adverse effects have received extensive attention. Among them, prodrugs have the advantages of low investment, low risk, and high success rate, making them a promising strategy. In this review, we propose the strategies for the design and summarize current research progress of glucocorticoid-based prodrugs in recent decades, including polymer-based prodrugs, dendrimer-based prodrugs, antibody-drug conjugates, peptide-drug conjugates, carbohydrate-based prodrugs, aliphatic acid-based prodrugs and so on. Besides, we also raise issues that need to be focused on during the development of glucocorticoid-based prodrugs. This review is expected to be helpful for the research and development of novel GCs and prodrugs.

Nanosystems for oxidative stress regulation in the anti-inflammatory therapy of acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical syndrome that results from a rapid decline in renal structure or renal functional impairment with the main pathological feature of sublethal and lethal damage to renal tubular cells. However, many potential therapeutic agents cannot achieve the desired therapeutic effect because of their poor pharmacokinetics and short retention time in the kidneys. With the recent emergence and progress of nanotechnology, nanodrugs with unique physicochemical properties could prolong circulation time, enhance efficient targeted delivery, and elevate the accumulation of therapeutics that can cross the glomerular filtration barrier and indicate comprehensive application prospects in the prevention and treatment of AKI. In this review, various types of nanosystems (such as liposomes, polymeric nanosystems, inorganic nanoparticles and cell-derived extracellular vesicles) are designed and applied to improve the pharmacokinetics of drug formation, which could further relieve the burden on the kidneys caused by the final cumulative dose of drugs in conventional treatments. Moreover, the passive or active targeting effect of nanosystems can also reduce the total therapeutic dose and off-target adverse effects on other organs. Nanodelivery systems for treating AKI that alleviate oxidative stress-induced renal cell damage and regulate the inflammatory kidney microenvironment are summarized.

Low dimensional nanomaterials for treating acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most common severe complications among hospitalized patients. In the absence of specific drugs to treat AKI, hemodialysis remains the primary clinical treatment for AKI patients. AKI treatment has received significant attention recently due to the excellent drug delivery capabilities of low-dimensional nanomaterials (LDNs) and their unique therapeutic effects. Diverse LDNs have been proposed to treat AKI, with promising results and the potential for future clinical application. This article aims to provide an overview of the pathogenesis of AKI and the recent advances in the treatment of AKI using different types of LDNs. In addition, it is intended to provide theoretical support for the design of LDNs and implications for AKI treatment.

Inflammation-targeted sialic acid-dexamethasone conjugates for reducing the side effects of glucocorticoids

As a potent glucocorticoid drug (GCs), Dexamethasone (Dex) is widely used clinically for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. However, such side effects as Cushing's syndrome and osteoporosis caused severe distress to patients. Herein, a sialic acid (SA)-modified dexamethasone conjugate (Dex-SA) was synthesized successfully to reduce side effects by targeting inflammatory diseases. The solubility of Dex-SA in water reached 58 times that of Dex, which meets the need for intravenous administration. The excellent stability of Dex-SA in plasma also laid a foundation for targeting disease sites. According to cellular uptake and biodistribution experiments, Dex-SA was more readily to be taken up by inflammatory cells and accumulated in diseased kidneys compared to Dex, which is attributed to the interaction of SA with E-selectin receptors overexpressed on the surface of inflammatory vascular endothelial cells. Besides, the pharmacodynamics studies of acute kidney injury showed that Dex-SA and Dex could produce comparable therapeutic effects. More importantly, Dex-SA was found to significantly reduce Dex-related side effects, as measured by blood glucose, red blood cells and immune cells, etc. At last, molecular docking results were obtained to confirm that Dex-SA could enter the cells by binding specifically with the E-selectin receptor, for combination with glucocorticoid receptors in the cytoplasm to exert pharmacological effects. Our study is expected to contribute a new strategy to the safe and effective targeting treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Genetic Kidney Diseases (GKDs) Modeling Using Genome Editing Technologies

Genetic kidney diseases (GKDs) are a group of rare diseases, affecting approximately about 60 to 80 per 100,000 individuals, for which there is currently no treatment that can cure them (in many cases). GKDs usually leads to early-onset chronic kidney disease, which results in patients having to undergo dialysis or kidney transplant. Here, we briefly describe genetic causes and phenotypic effects of six GKDs representative of different ranges of prevalence and renal involvement (ciliopathy, glomerulopathy, and tubulopathy). One of the shared characteristics of GKDs is that most of them are monogenic. This characteristic makes it possible to use site-specific nuclease systems to edit the genes that cause GKDs and generate in vitro and in vivo models that reflect the genetic abnormalities of GKDs. We describe and compare these site-specific nuclease systems (zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effect nucleases (TALENs) and regularly clustered short palindromic repeat-associated protein (CRISPR-Cas9)) and review how these systems have allowed the generation of cellular and animal GKDs models and how they have contributed to shed light on many still unknown fields in GKDs. We also indicate the main obstacles limiting the application of these systems in a more efficient way. The information provided here will be useful to gain an accurate understanding of the technological advances in the field of genome editing for GKDs, as well as to serve as a guide for the selection of both the genome editing tool and the gene delivery method most suitable for the successful development of GKDs models.

Renal Nano-drug delivery for acute kidney Injury: Current status and future perspectives

Acute kidney injury (AKI) causes considerable morbidity and mortality, particularly in the case of post-cardiac infarction or kidney transplantation; however, the site-specific accumulation of small molecule reno-protective agents for AKI has often proved ineffective due to dynamic fluid and solute excretion and non-selectivity, which impedes therapeutic efficacy. This article reviews the current status and future trajectories of renal nanomedicine research for AKI management from pharmacological and clinical perspectives, with a particular focus on appraising nanosized drug carrier (NDC) use for the delivery of reno-protective agents of different pharmacological classes and the effectiveness of NDCs in improving renal tissue targeting selectivity and efficacy of said agents. This review reveals the critical shift in the role of the small molecule reno-protective agents in AKI pharmacotherapy - from prophylaxis to treatment - when using NDCs for delivery to the kidney. We also highlight the need to identify the accumulation sites of NDCs carrying reno-protective agents in renal tissues during in vivo assessments and detail the less-explored pharmacological classes of reno-protective agents whose efficacies may be improved via NDC-based delivery. We conclude the paper by outlining the challenges and future perspectives of NDC-based reno-protective agent delivery for better clinical management of AKI.

Co-delivery of doxorubicin and SIS3 by folate-targeted polymeric micelles for overcoming tumor multidrug resistance

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is considered as a critical limiting factor for the successful chemotherapy, which is mainly characterized by the overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB1 or ABCG2. In this study, folate-targeted polymeric micellar carrier was successfully constructed to co-delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and SIS3 (FA/DOX/SIS3 micelles), a specific Smad3 inhibitor which sensitizes ABCB1- and ABCG2-overexpressing cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents. The ratio of DOX to SIS3 in polymeric micelles was determined based on the anti-tumor activity against resistant breast cells. In addition, FA/DOX/SIS3 micelles exhibited a much longer circulation time in blood and were preferentially accumulated in resistant tumor tissue. Pharmacodynamic studies showed that FA/DOX/SIS3 micelles possessed superior anti-tumor activity than other DOX-based treatments. Overall, FA/DOX/SIS3 micelles are a promising formulation for the synergistic treatment of drug-resistant tumor.

Targeting Selectins Mediated Biological Activities With Multivalent Probes

Selectins are type-I transmembrane glycoproteins that are ubiquitously expressed on activated platelets, endothelial cells, and leukocytes. They bind to cell surface glycoproteins and extracellular matrix ligands, regulate the rolling of leukocytes in the blood capillaries, and recruit them to inflammatory sites. Hence, they are potential markers for the early detection and inhibition of inflammatory diseases, thrombosis, cardiovascular disorders, and tumor metastasis. Fucosylated and sialylated glycans, such as sialyl Lewisx, its isoform sialyl Lewisa, and heparan sulfate, are primary selectin ligands. Functionalization of these selectin-binding ligands on multivalent probes, such as nanoparticles, liposomes, and polymers, not only inhibits selectin-mediated biological activity but is also involved in direct imaging of the inflammation site. This review briefly summarizes the selectin-mediated various diseases such as thrombosis, cancer and recent progress in the different types of multivalent probes used to target selectins.

Renal Cell-Targeted Drug Delivery Strategy for Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease: A Mini-Review

Kidney diseases, including acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), have become a global public health concern associated with high morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. However, at present, very few effective and specific drug therapies are available, owing to the poor therapeutic efficacy and systemic side effects. Kidney-targeted drug delivery, as a potential strategy for solving these problems, has received great attention in the fields of AKI and CKD in recent years. Here, we review the literature on renal targeted, more specifically, renal cell-targeted formulations of AKI and CKD that offered biodistribution data. First, we provide a broad overview of the unique structural characteristics and injured cells of acute and chronic injured kidneys. We then separately summarize literature examples of renal targeted formulations according to the difference of target cells and elaborate on the appropriate formulation design criteria for AKI and CKD. Finally, we propose a hypothetic strategy to improve the renal accumulation of glomerular cell-targeted formulation by escaping the uptake of the reticuloendothelial system and provide some perspectives for future studies.

Recent advances in nanotherapeutics for the treatment and prevention of acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious kidney disease without specific medications currently except for expensive dialysis treatment. Some potential drugs are limited due to their high hydrophobicity, poor in vivo stability, low bioavailability and possible adverse effects. Besides, kidney-targeted drugs are not common and small molecules are cleared too quickly to achieve effective drug concentrations in injured kidneys. These problems limit the development of pharmacological therapy for AKI. Nanotherapeutics based on nanotechnology have been proved to be an emerging and promising treatment strategy for AKI, which may solve the pharmacological therapy dilemma. More and more nanotherapeutics with different physicochemical properties are developed to efficiently deliver drugs, increase accumulation and control release of drugs in injury kidneys and also directly as effective antioxidants. Here, we discuss the recent nanotherapeutics applied in the treatment and prevention of AKI with improved effectiveness and few side effects.

Application of nanotechnology in acute kidney injury: From diagnosis to therapeutic implications

Acute kidney injury (AKI), a major health issue concerning ~50% of patients treated in intensive care units, generally leads to severe renal damage associated with high mortality rate. The application of nanotechnology for the management of AKI has profound potential of further development, providing innovative strategies for predicting the early onset and progression of renal disease and improving the treatment efficacy of the life-threating AKI. This review has comprehensively summarized the nanomedicines in the application of AKI diagnosis and emphatically discussed the unique potential of various nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems (e.g., polymeric nanoparticles, organic nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, lipid-based nanoparticles, hydrogels etc.) in the treatment of AKI, allowing for improved therapeutic index by enhancing both efficacy and safety concurrently. These approaches may mechanically mitigate oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial and other organellar damage, etc. In addition, the combination of nanotechnology with stem cells-based therapy or gene therapy has been explored for reducing renal tissues damage and promoting kidney repair or recovery from AKI. The review provides insights into the synthesis, advantages, and limitations of innovative nanomedicine application in the early detection and effective treatment of AKI.

Cell-Membrane-Display Nanotechnology

Advances in material science have set the stage for nanoparticle-based research with potent applications for the diagnosis, bioimaging, and precise treatment of diseases. Despite the wide range of biomaterials developed, the rational design of biomaterials with predictable bioactivity and safety remains a critical challenge. In recent years, the field of cell-membrane-based therapeutics has emerged as a promising platform for addressing unmet medical needs. The utilization of natural cell membranes endows biomaterials with a remarkable ability to serve as biointerfaces that interact with the host environment. To improve the function and efficacy of cell-membrane-based therapeutics, a series of novel strategies is developed as cell-membrane-display nanotechnology, which utilizes various methods to selectively display therapeutic molecules of cell membranes on nanoparticles. Although cell-membrane-display nanotechnology remains in the early phases, considerable work is currently being conducted in the field. This review discusses details of innovative strategies for displaying cell-membrane molecules, including the following: 1) displaying molecules of cell membranes on biomaterials, 2) pretreating cell membranes to induce increased expression of inherent molecules of cell membranes and enhance their function, and 3) inserting additional functional molecules on cell membranes. For each area, the theoretical basis, application scenarios, and potential development are highlighted.

Engineering of stepwise-targeting chitosan oligosaccharide conjugate for the treatment of acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and serious clinical syndrome of acute renal dysfunction in a short period. One of therapeutic interventions for AKI is to reduce ROS massively generated in the mitochondria and then ameliorate cell damage and apoptosis induced by oxidative stress. In this study, stepwise-targeting chitosan oligosaccharide, triphenyl phosphine-low molecular weight chitosan-curcumin (TPP-LMWC-CUR, TLC), was constructed for sepsis-induced AKI via removing excessive ROS in renal tubular epithelial cells. Benefiting from good water solubility and low molecular weight, TLC was rapidly and preferentially distributed in the renal tissues and then specifically internalized by tubular epithelium cells via interaction between Megalin receptor and LMWC. The intracellular TLC could further delivery CUR to mitochondria due to high buffering capacity of LMWC and delocalized positive charges of TPP. Both in vitro and in vivo pharmacodynamic results demonstrated the enhanced therapeutic effect of TLC in the treatment of AKI.

pH-Sensitive Nanoparticles Codelivering Docetaxel and Dihydroartemisinin Effectively Treat Breast Cancer by Enhancing Reactive Oxidative Species-Mediated Mitochondrial Apoptosis

Tumor growth and metastasis are the major causes of high mortality in breast cancer. We previously constructed pH-sensitive nanoparticles (D/D NPs) for the codelivery of docetaxel (DTX) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and demonstrated that D/D NPs showed anticancer activity in breast cancer cells in vitro. The present study further investigated the therapeutic effect of D/D NPs on orthotopic breast cancer in vivo and examined the antitumor mechanism of D/D NPs. D/D NPs significantly increased the apoptosis of 4T1 cells with a synergistic effect of DTX and DHA. D/D NPs increased reactive oxygen species, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, increased the expression of p53, and induced cytochrome c release into the cytoplasm to activate caspase-3. In an orthotopic metastatic breast cancer mouse model derived from 4T1 cells, D/D NPs inhibited tumor growth and prevented lung metastasis due to the synergistic effect of DTX and DHA. No distinct changes were observed in the histology of major organs. These results indicate that pH-sensitive D/D NP-based combination therapy may be a promising strategy for the treatment of metastatic breast cancers via the ROS-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.

Current Drug Nano-targeting Strategies for Improvement in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Prevalent Pathologies such as Cardiovascular and Renal Diseases

BACKGROUND

The kidney and cardiovascular system are closely related to each other during the modulation of the cardiovascular homeostasis. However, the search for new alternatives for the treatment and diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases does not take into account this relationship, so their evaluation results and the advantages offered by their global and integrative analysis are wasted. For example, a variety of receptors that are overexpressed in both pathologies is large enough to allow expansion in the search for new molecular targets and ligands. Nanotechnology offers pharmacological targeting strategies to kidney, heart, and blood vessels for overcoming one of the essential restrictions of traditional cardiovascular therapies the ones related to their unspecific pharmacodynamics distribution in these critical organs.

RECENT FINDINGS

Drug or contrast agent nano-targeting for treatment or diagnosis of atherosclerosis, thrombosis, renal cancer or fibrosis, glomerulonephritis, among other renal, cardiac and blood vessels pathologies would allow an increase in their efficacy and a reduction of their side effects. Such effects are possible because, through pharmacological targeting, the drug is mainly found at the desired site. Review Purpose: In this mini-review, active, passive, and physical targeting strategies of several nanocarriers that have been assessed and proposed for the treatment and diagnosis of different cardiovascular diseases, are being addressed.

Sialic acid-modified dexamethasone lipid calcium phosphate gel core nanoparticles for target treatment of kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical disease with high morbidity and mortality. Glucocorticoids are drugs that effectively relieve AKI, but the systemic side effects of long-term use limit their use. Herein, we constructed sialic acid-modified dexamethasone sodium phosphate (Dsp)-loaded lipid calcium phosphate gel core nanoparticles (SA-NPs) for the targeted treatment of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced AKI to improve efficacy and reduce side effects. The obtained nanoparticles could effectively encapsulate Dsp with 66.8% encapsulation efficiency and 4.56% (w/w) drug content. In vitro release indicates that the nanoparticles have a certain sustained release effect and have the characteristics of acid-sensitive release. And SA-NPs significantly increased the cellular uptake and kidney accumulation respectively through the combination of SA and E-selectin receptors overexpressed in inflamed vascular endothelial cells. Besides, the in vivo pharmacokinetic studies showed that Dsp-loaded SA-NPs significantly increased the residence time in the body and their plasma half-life was 1.7 times that of free Dsp. SA-NPs significantly improved the renal function, decreased the level of pro-inflammatory factors, and adjusted the oxidative stress factors and apoptotic proteins compared to free Dsp solution in pharmacodynamic studies. Moreover, little negative effects on blood glucose and bone mineral density were observed. Our study might provide a new strategy for the safe and effective targeting treatment of AKI or other related inflammatory diseases.

Recent advances in nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems for the kidney

The application of nanotechnology in medicine has the potential to make a great impact on human health, ranging from prevention to diagnosis and treatment of disease. The kidneys are the main organ of the human urinary system, responsible for filtering the blood, and concentrating metabolic waste into urine by means of the renal glomerulus. The glomerular filtration apparatus presents a barrier against therapeutic agents based on charge and/or molecular size. Therefore, drug delivery to the kidneys faces significant difficulties resulting in treatment failure in several renal disorders. Accordingly, different strategies have recently being explored for enhancing the delivery of therapeutic agents across the filtration barrier of the glomerulus. Nanosystems with different physicochemical properties, including size, shape, surface, charge, and possessing biological features such as high cellular internalization, low cytotoxicity, controllable pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, have shown promising results for renal therapy. Different types of nanoparticles (NPs) have been used to deliver drugs to the kidney. In this review, we discuss nanotechnology-based drug delivery approaches for acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, renal fibrosis, renovascular hypertension and kidney cancer.

Induction of NKG2D ligand expression on tumor cells by CD8+ T-cell engagement-mediated activation of nuclear factor-kappa B and p300/CBP-associated factor

The ligands for the natural killer group 2 (NKG2D) protein render tumor cells susceptible to NKG2D-dependent immune cell attack. However, cancer cells escape from immune surveillance by downregulating NKG2D ligands. We previously discovered that engagement of activated CD8⁺ T cells and tumor cells induces NKG2D ligands on tumor cells, but the underlying mechanism remains to be defined. Both in vivo mouse tumor models and in vitro cell assays were performed to study the downstream signaling. Our results supported the notion that, upon engagement with the cognate receptors, CD137 ligand and CD40 initiates activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling in tumor cells even in the absence of CD8⁺ T cells. Like tumor and CD8⁺ T cell contact-dependent NKG2D ligand induction, this CD137L/CD40-mediated signaling activation was associated with elevated levels of acetyltransferase P300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF), whereas inhibition of phosphorylated NF-κB abrogated PCAF induction. Although stimulation of CD137L/CD40-mediated signaling is vital, inflammatory cytokines, including interferon gamma (IFNγ) and TNFα, also facilitate NKG2D ligand–induced immune surveillance via both facilitating T cell chemotaxis and CD137L/CD40 induced NF-κB/PCAF activation. Collectively, our results unveil a novel mechanism of NKG2D ligand upregulation involving reverse signaling of CD40 and CD137L on tumor cells which, along with inflammatory cytokines IFNγ and TNFα, stimulate downstream NF-κB and PCAF activation. Understanding this mechanism may help in development of induced NKG2D ligand–dependent T cell therapy against cancers.

Highly Integrated Nanoplatform Based on an E-Selectin-Targeting Strategy for Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment

Therapeutic goals for metastatic breast cancer, including shrinkage of established metastasis and suppression of movement of tumor cells, are often hard to achieve and remain the main obstacles restricting the antimetastatic efficacy of targeted drug delivery systems (TDDSs). Herein, we proposed an E-selectin-targeting nanoplatform for the systemic treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Versatile functions, including killing the circulating tumor cells, shrinking the established lesions, as well as inhibiting the movement of tumor cells, were integrated into doxorubicin-loaded sialic acid-dextran-octadecanoic acid (SDO) micelles (SDD). The prepared SDD micelles could not only inhibit lung and liver metastasis in the orthotopic 4T1 tumors model, but also decrease the metastatic lesions in the metastatic 4T1 cell model, resulting in 27.33% reduced number of metastatic nodules when compared to those without sialic acid modification. It was found that the good antimetastatic effect of SDD was only partially attributed to its ability on removing metastatic cells and metastases. Most importantly, the blank SDO micelles left in the lesion could further inhibit the cell migration and cell-cell binding. These results suggest that SA-driven TDDS has the potential for specific targeting and effective treatment of cancer metastasis.

Anti-ICAM-1 antibody-modified nanostructured lipid carriers: a pulmonary vascular endothelium-targeted device for acute lung injury therapy

BACKGROUND

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome without effective treatment. Targeting delivery of glucocorticoid to lung shows potential efficacy for ALI based on their anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties, breaking through their clinical application limitation due to systemic side effects. This work was aimed to establish lung-targeted dexamethasone (DEX) loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) with opposite surface charge and investigate their therapeutic effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI mice.

RESULTS

The diameter of anionic anti-intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (anti-ICAM-1) antibody-conjugated DEX-loaded NLCs (ICAM/DEX/NLCs) and the cationic ones with octadecylamine (ODA) modification (ICAM/DEX/ODA-NLCs) was about 249.9 and 235.9 nm. The zeta potential of ICAM/DEX/NLCs and ICAM/DEX/ODA-NLCs was about - 30.3 and 37.4 mV, respectively. Relative to the non-targeted control and ICAM/DEX/ODA-NLCs, ICAM/DEX/NLCs exhibited higher in vitro cellular uptake in LPS-activated human vascular endothelial cell line EAhy926 after CAM-mediated endocytosis, and stronger in vivo pulmonary distribution in the ALI model mice. In vivo i.v. administration of ICAM/DEX/NLCs significantly attenuated pulmonary inflammatory cells infiltration, and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α and IL-6 in ALI mice. H&E stain also revealed positive histological improvements by ICAM/DEX/NLCs.

CONCLUSIONS

ICAM/DEX/NLCs may represent a potential pulmonary endothelium targeted device, which facilitate translation of DEX into clinical ALI treatment.

Sialic-Acid-Anchored Micelles: A Hierarchical Targeting Device for Enhanced Tumor Tissue Accumulation and Cellular Internalization

Targeted drug delivery systems (TDDS) have attracted wide attention for their reduced drug side effects and improved antitumor efficacy in comparison with traditional preparations. While targeting moieties in existing TDDS have principally focused on recognition of receptors on the surface of tumor cells, accumulation into tumor tissue only could be performed by enhanced permeability and retention effects and active transportation into tumor cells. Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded sialic acid-dextran (Dex)-octadecanoic acid (OA) micelles (SA-Dex-OA/DOX) were designed for targeting hepatocellular carcinoma effectively. The synthesized conjugates could self-aggregate to form micelles with a critical micelle concentration of 27.6 μg·mL^-1 and diameter of 54.53 ± 3.23 nm. SA-Dex-OA micelles incorporated with 4.36% DOX-loading content could prolong in vitro drug release to 96 h with 80% of final release. Cellular transportation studies revealed that SA-Dex-OA micelles mediated more efficient DOX delivery into Bel-7402 cells than those without SA modification. In vivo biodistribution testing demonstrated that SA-Dex-OA/ICG micelles showed 3.05-fold higher accumulation into Bel-7402 tumors. The recognition of overexpressed E-selectin in inflammatory tumor vascular endothelial cells led to a large accumulation of SA-Dex-OA/ICG micelles into tumor tissue, and the E-selectin upregulated on the surface of tumor cells contributed to active cellular transportation into tumor cells. Accordingly, SA-Dex-OA/DOX exhibited prior suppression of Bel-7402 tumor growth greater than that of Dex-OA/DOX micelles and free DOX (the tumor inhibition: 79.2% vs 61.0 and 51.3%). These results suggest that SA-functionalized micelles with dual targeting properties have high potential for liver cancer therapy.