Aerosol Delivery of Hesperetin-Loaded Nanoparticles and Immunotherapy Increases Survival in a Murine Lung Cancer Model

Abstract

Flavonoids, like Hesperetin, have been shown to be an ACE2 receptor agonists with antioxidant and pro-apoptotic activity and can induce apoptosis in cancer cells. ACE2 receptors are abundant in lung cancer cells. Here, we explored the application of Hesperetin bound to PegPLGA-coated nanoparticles (Hesperetin nanoparticles, HNPs) and anti-CD40 antibody as an aerosol treatment for lung tumor-bearing mice. The Hesperetin nanoparticles (HNPs) were engineered using a nano-formulation microfluidic technique and polymeric nanoparticles. The in vitro studies were performed in human A549 (ATCC) and murine LL/2-Luc2 (ATCC) lung cancer cell lines. A syngeneic orthotopic murine model of lung cancer was generated in wild (+/+) C57/BL6 background mice with luciferase-positive cell line LL/2-Luc2 cells. Lung tumor-bearing mice were treated via aerosol inhalation with HNP, anti-CD40 antibody, or both. Survival was used to analyze the efficacy of the aerosol treatment. The cohorts were also analyzed for body condition score, weight, and liver and kidney function. Analysis of an orthotopic murine lung cancer model demonstrated a differential uptake of the HNPs and anti-CD40 by the cancer cells. A higher survival rate was observed when the combination of aerosol treatment with HNPs was added with the treatment with anti-CD40 (p < 0.001), as compared to anti-CD40 alone (p < 0.01). Moreover, two tumor-bearing mice survived long-term with the combination treatment, and their tumors were diminished. Subsequently, these two mice were shown to be refractory to the development of subcutaneous tumors, indicating systemic resilience to developing new tumors. Using an inhalation-based administration, we successfully established a treatment model of increased therapeutic efficacy with HNPs and anti-CD40 in an orthotopic murine lung cancer model. Our findings open the possibility of improved lung cancer treatment using nanoparticles like flavonoids and immunoadjuvants.