Gelation embolism agents suppress clinical TACE-incited pro-metastatic microenvironment against hepatocellular carcinoma progression.

BACKGROUND

Current embolic agents in transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) encounter instability and easy leakage, discounting TACE efficacy with residual HCC. Moreover, clinical TACE aggravates hypoxia and pro-metastatic microenvironments, rendering patients with HCC poor prognosis.

METHODS

Herein, we developed Zein-based embolic agents that harness water-insoluble but ethanol-soluble Zein to encompass doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded mesoporous hollow MnO (HMnO). The conditions and capacity of HMnO to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assayed. Mechanical examinations of Zein-HMnO@DOX were performed to evaluate its potential as the embolic agent. In vitro experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of Zein-HMnO@DOX on HCC. The subcutaneous HCC mouse model and rabbit VX2 HCC model were established to investigate its anti-tumor and anti-metastasis efficacy and explore its potential anti-tumor mechanism.

FINDINGS

The high adhesion and crosslinking of Zein with HMnO@DOX impart Zein-HMnO@DOX with strong mechanical strength to resist deformation and wash-off. Zein gelation and HMnO decomposition in response to water and acidic tumor microenvironment, respectively, enable continuous DOX release and Fenton-like reaction for reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and O release to execute ROS-enhanced TACE. Consequently, Zein-based embolic agents outperform clinically-used lipiodol to significantly inhibit orthotopic HCC growth. More significantly, O release down-regulates hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and glucose transporter protein 1 (GLUT1), which thereby re-programmes TACE-aggravated hypoxic and pro-metastatic microenvironments to repress HCC metastasis towards lung. Mechanistic explorations uncover that such Zein-based TACE agents disrupt oxidative stress, angiogenesis and glycometabolism pathways to inhibit HCC progression.

INTERPRETATION

This innovative work not only provides a new TACE agent for HCC, but also establishes a new strategy to ameliorate TACE-aggravated hypoxia and metastasis motivation against clinically-common HCC metastasis after TACE operation.

FUNDING

Excellent Young Science Fund for National Natural Science Foundation of China (82022033); National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82373086, 82102761); Major scientific and technological innovation project of Wenzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. ZY2021009); Shanghai Young Top-Notch Talent.