Binary prodrug nanoassemblies combining chemotherapy and ferroptosis activation for efficient triple-negative breast cancer therapy

Chemotherapy has been recommended as the standard protocol for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) at the advanced stage. However, the current treatment is unsatisfactory due to inefficient drug accumulation and rapid chemo-resistance. Thus, rational design of advanced drug delivery systems that can induce multiple cell death pathways is a promising strategy to combat TNBC. Ferroptosis is a powerful non-apoptotic cell death modality, showing potential in tumor inhibition. Herein, we propose a binary prodrug nanoassemblies that combines chemotherapy with ferroptosis for TNBC treatment. In this system, paclitaxel is linked with paracetamol (ferroptosis activator) by a disulfide linkage to construct self-assembly prodrug. Meanwhile, 2-distearoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-methyl(polyethylene glycol)-2000-tyrosine (DSPE-PEG2k-tyrosine) is applied for large neutral amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) targeting, which is highly expressed in TNBC. The prodrug nanoassemblies exhibit good stability and a glutathione (GSH)-responsive release profile. Furthermore, the LAT1-targeted nanoassemblies show stronger cytotoxicity, higher cellular uptake, and more obvious ferroptosis activation than non-decorated ones. In a TNBC mice model, the prodrug nanoassemblies demonstrate strong anti-tumor efficacy. The application of ferroptosis-assisting chemotherapy may provide a promising strategy for TNBC therapy.