RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Activation of rat Kupffer cells to tumoricidal cells by the immunomodulator muramyl tripeptide-phosphatidylethanolamine incorporated into the novel drug carrier lactosylated low density lipoprotein.
JF Molecular Pharmacology
JO Mol Pharmacol
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 971
OP 977
VO 45
IS 5
A1 B van de Water
A1 T J van Berkel
A1 J Kuiper
YR 1994
UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/45/5/971.abstract
AB Lactosylated low density lipoprotein (lac-LDL) is a potential carrier for the site-specific delivery of lipophilic drugs to liver macrophages (Kupffer cells). In the present study we evaluated the application of lac-LDL as a carrier to target the immunomodulator muramyl tripeptide-phosphatidylethanolamine (MTP-PE) to rat Kupffer cells, to specifically activate these cells to tumor-killing cells. The drug carrier 125I-labeled lac-LDL interacted with a galactose-specific recognition system on isolated rat Kupffer cells. The in vitro association of 125I-lac-LDL at 37 degrees was maximal after 20 min, whereas degradation of 125I-lac-LDL was observed after a lag period of 10 min. Cultured rat Kupffer cells were activated after incubation with MTP-PE incorporated into lac-LDL. Lac-LDL-MTP-PE induced a 2-fold increase in the amount of newly synthesized proteins secreted by Kupffer cells. Lac-LDL-MTP-PE induced a concentration-dependent increase in the cytostatic and cytolytic activities of Kupffer cells towards tumor cells (B16F10 melanoma cells) in vitro. Treatment of rats with lac-LDL-MTP-PE also resulted in dose-dependent activation of Kupffer cells to tumoricidal cells, whereas the drug carrier alone had only a minor effect on this activity of Kupffer cells. The present data show that lac-LDL is an effective carrier for the delivery of the lipophilic immunomodulator MTP-PE to rat Kupffer cells. The specific activation of Kupffer cells to tumoricidal cells by lac-LDL-MTP-PE may be beneficial for the treatment of liver metastases.