Boron encapsulated in a liposome can be used for combinational neutron capture therapy

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 2143
• Main Authors: Li, Jiyuan, Sun, Qi, Lu, Chuanjie, Xiao, Han, Guo, Zhibin, Duan, Dongban, Zhang, Zizhu, Liu, Tong, Liu, Zhibo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19.04.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/137; 59; 59/78; 631/154/152; 631/61/2049; Biocompatibility; Boron; Boron - therapeutic use; Boron Compounds; Boron Neutron Capture Therapy - methods; Chemoradiotherapy; Chemotherapy; Copper Radioisotopes; Encapsulation; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Invasiveness; Irradiation; Lecithin; Lipids; Liposomes; multidisciplinary; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Neutron irradiation; Neutrons; Nuclear capture; Penicillins; Phosphatidylcholine; Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase; Positron emission; Positron emission tomography; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stability; Tomography; Tumors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29780-w

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an attractive approach to treat invasive malignant tumours due to binary heavy-particle irradiation, but its clinical applications have been hindered by boron delivery agents with low in vivo stability, poor biocompatibility, and limited application of combinational modalities. Here, we report boronsome, a carboranyl-phosphatidylcholine based liposome for combinational BNCT and chemotherapy. Theoretical simulations and experimental approaches illustrate high stability of boronsome. Then positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with Cu-64 labelled boronsome reveals high-specific tumour accumulation and long retention with a clear irradiation background. In particular, we show the suppression of tumour growth treated with boronsome with neutron irradiation and therapeutic outcomes are further improved by encapsulation of chemotherapy drugs, especially with PARP1 inhibitors. In sum, boronsome may be an efficient agent for concurrent chemoradiotherapy with theranostic properties against malignancies. Boron neutron capture therapy is a type of cancer therapy but is associated with insufficient boron delivery and with poor biocompatibility. Here, the authors constructed boronated lipids to generate - boronsome - and show the system can reduce tumour growth.