Intravitreal injection of cell membrane-coated nanoparticles for retinoblastoma treatment

Chemotherapy is a widely adopted treatment for malignant intraocular tumors such as retinoblastoma. However, achieving high delivery efficiency remains challenging due to rapid clearance and lack of targeting specificity. Cancer cell membrane-coated nanoparticles have been extensively reported to exhibit specific affinity to homotypic cancer cells. Here we designed poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-based polymeric nanoparticles coated with the plasma membrane of WERI-Rb-1 cells, derived from human retinoblastoma. These nanoparticles showed remarkable affinity to WERI-Rb-1 cells in vitro. Loaded with the FDA-approved chemotherapy drug etoposide, the nanoparticles exhibited excellent antitumor efficacy and excellent biosafety following a single-dose intravitreal injection in vivo. Overall, this work presents a simple yet effective strategy for the treatment of retinoblastoma.