Preparation of B16 cancer cell membrane coated α-zein biomimetic drug delivery system for the enhancement of homotypic target ability

Zein is an excellent protein-based pharmaceutical excipient, which has been extensively studied as a carrier for drug delivery system (DDS). However, the poor target ability of zein has limited its efficient delivery and in vivo applications. In this study, the B16 cancer cell membrane coated α-zein biomimetic drug delivery system was prepared to enhance homotypic target ability. The solubility and self-assembly behavior of α-zein were studied using different solvents, the particle size uniformity, stability and toxicity were evaluated. Then B16 cancer cell membrane (CCM) modified α-zein based nanocarrier was prepared by using the co-extrusion method. The AFM analysis showed that Young’s modulus (530.53 ± 66.55 MPa) of CCM-α-zein was smaller than that of membrane-derived vesicles, but bigger than that of α-zein. After coating the CCM on the surface of α-zein, the surface adhesion force of CCM-α-zeinα-zein (56.4 ± 4.6 nN) was significantly reduced. The results of protein electrophoresis showed that CCM-α-zein could completely retain the proteins of α-zein and CCM after co-extrusion. The safety of the DDS prepared was proved by the hemolysis test and non-tumor cells experiment. Paclitaxel was selected as the model drug to prepare DDS nanoparticles, the results of the cell experiment showed that the migration area of B16 cells was reduced by 5.79%, which indicated the strong inhibition migration ability of DDS. The nuclear activity analysis showed that the nuclei of B16 cells were broken into fragments. Qualitative and quantitative studies suggested that the prepared CCM-α-zein possessed homologous targeting ability. Therefore, this work presents an effective strategy to enhance the targeting ability, which will extensive biomedical applications of zein.