Issue 9, 2018

Intra-mitochondrial biomineralization for inducing apoptosis of cancer cells

Abstract

The use of biomineralization that regulates cellular functions has emerged as a potential therapeutic tool. However, the lack of selectivity still limits its therapeutic efficacy. Here, we report a subcellular-targeting biomineralization system featuring a triphenylphosphonium cation (TPP) (the mitochondria-targeting moiety) and trialkoxysilane (the biomineralization moiety via silicification). The TPP-containing trialkoxysilane exhibited approximately seven times greater cellular uptake into cancer cells (SCC7) than into normal cells (HEK293T) due to the more negative mitochondrial membrane potentials of the cancer cells. In turn, its accumulation inside mitochondria (pH 8) induces specific silicification, leading to the formation of silica particles in the mitochondrial matrix and further activation of apoptosis. In vivo assessment confirmed that the biomineralization system efficiently inhibits tumor growth in a mouse xenograft cancer model. Exploiting both the subcellular specificity and the targeting strategy provides new insight into the use of intracellular biomineralization for targeted cancer therapy.

Graphical abstract: Intra-mitochondrial biomineralization for inducing apoptosis of cancer cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
06 Dec 2017
Accepted
24 Jan 2018
First published
25 Jan 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 2474-2479

Intra-mitochondrial biomineralization for inducing apoptosis of cancer cells

S. Kim, L. Palanikumar, H. Choi, M. T. Jeena, C. Kim and J. Ryu, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 2474 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC05189A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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