Yan Xing,1,* Rui Jing,2,* Xiaoying Tang,2 Zhenqi Jiang2 

1Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Medical Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Zhenqi Jiang; Xiaoying Tang, Email jiangzhenqi@bit.edu.cn; xiaoying@bit.edu.cn

Objective: Ovarian cancer cells are prone to acquire tolerance to chemotherapeutic agents, which seriously affects clinical outcomes. The development of novel strategies to enhance the targeting of chemotherapeutic agents to overcome drug resistance and minimize side effects is significant for improving the clinical outcomes of ovarian cancer patients.
Methods: We employed folic acid (FA)-modified ZIF-90 nanomaterials (FA-ZIF-90) to deliver the chemotherapeutic drug, cisplatin (DDP), via dual targeting to improve its targeting to circumvent cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells, especially by targeting mitochondria. FA-ZIF-90/DDP could rapidly release DDP in response to dual stimulation of acidity and ATP in tumor cells.
Results: FA-ZIF-90/DDP showed good blood compatibility. It was efficiently taken up by human ovarian cancer cisplatin-resistant cells A2780/DDP and aggregated in the mitochondrial region. FA-ZIF-90/DDP significantly inhibited the mitochondrial activity and metastatic ability of A2780/DDP cells. In addition, it effectively induced apoptosis in A2780/DDP cells and overcame cisplatin resistance. In vivo experiments showed that FA-ZIF-90/DDP increased the accumulation of DDP in tumor tissues and significantly inhibited tumor growth.
Conclusion: FA-modified ZIF-90 nanocarriers can improve the tumor targeting and anti-tumor effects of chemotherapeutic drugs, reduce toxic side effects, and are expected to be a novel therapeutic strategy to reverse drug resistance in ovarian cancer.

Keywords: ovarian cancer, drug resistance, targeted therapy, folic acid, ZIF-90, nanomedicine, mitochondria, cell apoptosis