Self-assembled 5-fluorouracil-cinnamaldehyde nanodrugs for greatly improved chemotherapy in vivo

The preferred cancer treatment is to achieve a high therapeutic effect as well as reduce side effects. In this study, we developed carrier-free nano drugs based on 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and cinnamaldehyde (CA) to meet the above goals. Two model drugs were spliced by acetal linkage and ester bond, which could self-assemble into nano drug particles (5FU-CA NPs) with a size of ∼170 nm. In vitro cell experiments showed 5FU-CA NPs were efficiently internalized by HepG2 cells. They then quickly exerted dual drug activities by the cleavage of acetal and ester bond, resulting in enhanced cell-killing efficacy and apoptosis. Synergistic mechanisms were achieved via the anti-metabolic effects mediated by 5FU-COOH and the oxidative damage induced by CA. In vivo anti-tumor evaluation further indicated that 5FU-CA NPs had higher tumor growth inhibition than 5FU-COOH/CA mixture (5FU-COOH + CA) and exhibited lower systemic toxicity under the same reducing dose of each drug. Overall, this is a successful synergistic anti-tumor attempt through rational self-assembly of drugs with different mechanisms and it can be extrapolated to other agents.