Interrogating the Role of Endocytosis Pathway and Organelle Trafficking for Doxorubicin-Based Combination Ionic Nanomedicines

We have studied the endocytic mechanisms that determine subcellular localization for three carrier-free chemotherapeutic-photothermal (chemo-PTT) combination ionic nanomedicines (INMs) composed of doxorubicin (DOX) and an near-infrared (NIR) dye (ICG, IR820, or IR783). This study aims to understand the cellular basis for previously published enhanced toxicity results of these combination nanomedicines toward MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The active transport mechanism of INMs, unlike free DOX, which is known to employ passive transport, was validated by conducting temperature-dependent cellular uptake of the drug in MCF-7 cells using confocal microscopy. The internalization pathway of these INMs was further probed in the presence and absence of different endocytosis inhibitors. Detailed examination of the mode of entry of the carrier-free INMs in MCF-7 cells revealed that they are primarily internalized through clathrin-mediated endocytosis. In addition, time-dependent subcellular localization studies were also investigated. Examination of time-dependent confocal images indicated that the INMs targeted multiple organelles, in contrast to free DOX that primarily targets the nucleus. Collectively, the high cellular endocytic uptake in cancerous cells (EPR effect) and the multimode targeting ability demonstrated the main reason for the low half-maxima inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value (the high cytotoxicity) of these carrier-free INMs as compared to their respective parent chemo and PTT drugs.