Delivery of sodium borocaptate to glioma cells using immunoliposome conjugated with anti-EGFR antibodies by ZZ-His.

Nanoparticles are effective of delivering cargo into cells. Here, sodium borocaptate (BSH) was encapsulated in liposomes composed of nickel lipid, and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies were conjugated to the liposomes using the antibody affinity motif of protein A (ZZ) as an adaptor (immunoliposomes). The immunoliposomes were used to deliver BSH into EGFR-overexpressing glioma cells. Immunohistochemical analysis using an anti-BSH monoclonal antibody revealed that BSH was delivered effectively into the cells but not into EGFR-deficient glioma or primary astrocytes. In an animal model of brain tumors, both the liposomes and the BSH were only observed in the tumor. Moreover, the efficiency of (10)B's delivery into glioma cells was confirmed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) both in vitro and in vivo. The results suggest that this system utilizing immunoliposomes provides an effective means of delivering (10)B into glioma cells in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT).