Fabrication of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL)/ALG modified CaCO3 as drug carriers with the function of tumor selective recognition

Abstract

Layer-by-layer assembled TRAIL/ALG shells have been successfully coated on the surface of highly loaded doxorubicin (DOX) calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) nanoparticles as drug carriers. The assembled core/shell structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). They show that the assembled TRAIL/ALG coated DOX@CaCO₃ nanocomposites can be internalized by cancer cells. The outer layer of the system is TRAIL which can be specifically recognized by tumors and leads to the apoptosis of tumors. The release of DOX can directly kill the cancer cells. This demonstrates that the core/shell nanocomposites of TRAIL/ALG-CaCO₃ loaded with DOX have good potential applications in the treatment of cancer.