Engineered liposomes targeting hepatic stellate cells overcome pathological barriers and reverse liver fibrosis

Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved..

Dual pathological barriers, including capillarized liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) and deposited extracellular matrix (ECM), result in insufficient drug delivery, significantly compromising the anti-fibrosis efficacy. Additionally, excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the hepatic microenvironment are crucial factors contributing to the progression of liver fibrosis. Hence, hyaluronic acid (HA) modified liposomes co-delivering all-trans retinoic acid (RA) and L-arginine (L-arg) were constructed to reverse hepatic fibrosis. By exhibiting exceptional responsiveness to the fibrotic microenvironment, our cleverly constructed liposomes efficiently disrupted the hepatic sinus pathological barrier, leading to enhanced accumulation of liposomes in activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and subsequent induction of HSCs quiescence. Specially, excessive ROS in liver fibrosis promotes the conversion of loaded L-arg to nitric oxide (NO). The ensuing NO serves to reestablish the fenestrae structure of capillarized LSECs, thereby augmenting the likelihood of liposomes reaching the hepatic sinus space. Furthermore, subsequent oxidation of NO by ROS into peroxynitrite activates pro-matrix metalloproteinases into matrix metalloproteinases, which further disrupts the deposited ECM barrier. Consequently, this NO-induced cascade process greatly amplifies the accumulation of liposomes within activated HSCs. More importantly, the released RA could induce quiescence of activated HSCs by significantly downregulating the expression of myosin light chain-2, thereby effectively mitigating excessive collagen synthesis and ultimately leading to the reversal of liver fibrosis. Overall, this integrated systemic strategy has taken a significant step forward in advancing the treatment of liver fibrosis.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:368

Enthalten in:

Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society - 368(2024) vom: 15. Apr., Seite 219-232

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Wang, Kaili [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Hao [VerfasserIn]
Zheng, Jiani [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Jiali [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Yixuan [VerfasserIn]
Yuan, Yue [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

All-trans retinoic acid
EC 3.4.24.-
Extracellular matrix
HSCs-targeted therapy
Journal Article
Liposomes
Liver fibrosis
Matrix Metalloproteinases
Nitric oxide
Reactive Oxygen Species

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 10.04.2024

Date Revised 10.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.02.022

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM368579220