Low dose shikonin and anthracyclines coloaded liposomes induce robust immunogenetic cell death for synergistic chemo-immunotherapy

Chemo-immunotherapy based on immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a promising strategy for cancer therapy. However, the effective ICD requires a high dosage of ICD stimulus, which could be associated to a dose-dependent toxicity. Therefore, in this study, a liposome remote-loaded with shikonin (a potent ICD stimulus) was developed, with the ability to effectively induce ICD at high dosage in vivo. However, a hepatotoxic effect was observed. To circumvent this problem, shikonin was combined with the anthracycline mitoxantrone or doxorubicin to develop co-loaded liposomes inducing a synergistic ICD effect and cytotoxicity to tumor cells. Cytotoxicity and uptake experiment in vitro were performed to analyze the optimal synergistic ratio of shikonin and anthracyclines based on a “formulated strategy”. Interestingly, copper mediated co-loaded liposomes resulted in a pH and GSH dual-responsive release property. More importantly, pharmacokinetics and tumor biodistribution studies revealed an outstanding capacity of ratiometric delivery of dual drugs. Thus, the dual-loaded liposome enhanced the antitumor effect by the stimulation of a robust immune response at lower doses of the drugs with a higher safety compared to single-loaded liposomes. Summarized, the current work provided a reference for a rational design and development of liposomal co-delivery system of drugs and ICD-induced chemo-immunotherapy, and established a potential clinical application of shikonin-based drug combinations as a new chemo-immunotherapeutic strategy for cancer treatment.