Nanotechnology-enabled delivery of NQO1 bioactivatable drugs

Current cancer chemotherapy lacks specificity and is limited by undesirable toxic side-effects, as well as a high rate of recurrence. Nanotechnology has the potential to offer paradigm-shifting solutions to improve the outcome of cancer diagnosis and therapy. β-Lapachone (β-lap) is a novel anticancer agent whose mechanism of action is highly dependent on NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), a phase II detoxifying enzyme overexpressed in solid tumors from a variety of cancer types. However, the poor water solubility of β-lap limits its clinical potential. A series of drug formulations were developed for systemic administration in preclinical evaluations. Encapsulation of β-lap into polymeric micelles showed less side-effects and higher maximum tolerated dose (MTD), prolonged blood circulation time and preferential accumulation in tumors with greatly improved safety and antitumor efficacy. The prodrug strategy of β-lap further decreases the crystallization of β-lap by introducing esterase degradable side chains to the rigid fused ring structure. β-Lap prodrugs considerably increased the stability, drug-loading content and delivery efficiency of nanoparticles. The optimized formulation of β-lap-dC₃ prodrug micelles showed excellent antitumor efficacy in treating orthotopic non-small cell lung tumors that overexpress NQO1, with target validation using pharmacodynamic endpoints.