A study on the thermochemotherapy effect of nanosizedAs2O3/MZF thermosensitive magnetoliposomes on experimental hepatoma in vitro and invivo

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the synthesis and characterization of a nanosized, thermosensitivemagnetoliposome encapsulating magnetic nanoparticles (MZFs) and antitumor drugs(As2O3).The nanoliposomes were spherical and mostly single volume, with an average diameter of 128.2 nm.Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed a liposome phase transition temperature of42.71 °C. After that, we studied the liposomes’ anti-hepatoma effect in vitro and in vivo. Theantitumor effect of the nanoliposomes on human hepatoma cells, SMMC-7721, and changesin expression of apoptosis-related proteins were examined in vitro. The results show thatAs2O3/MZF thermosensitive magnetoliposomes combined with hyperthermia had a great impact on theBax/Bcl-2 ratio, which increased to 1.914 and exhibited a rapid response to induce apoptosis of tumor cells.An in situ rabbit liver tumor model was established and used to evaluate the antitumor effect ofcombined hyperthermia and chemotherapy following transcatheter arterial embolization withAs2O3/MZF thermosensitive magnetoliposomes. The results demonstrated a stronganti-hepatoma effect, with a tumor volume inhibition rate of up to 85.22%. Thus,As2O3/MZF thermosensitive magnetoliposomes may play a great role in the treatment of hepatocarcinoma.