Lin Song,* Xiaosu Yuan,* Zhonghao Zhao, Peiyan Wang, Weiwei Wu, Jianxun Wang

School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Jianxun Wang, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 532 82991791, Email wangjx@qdu.edu.cn

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) is characterized by irreversible cardiomyocyte death resulting from an inadequate supply of oxygenated blood to the myocardium. Recent studies have indicated that ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death, exacerbates myocardial injury during MI. Concurrently, the upregulation of CD47 on the surface of damaged myocardium following MI impairs the clearance of dead cells by macrophages, thereby hindering efferocytosis. In this context, simultaneously inhibiting ferroptosis and enhancing efferocytosis may represent a promising strategy to mitigate myocardial damage post-MI.
Methods: In this study, we engineered platelet membrane-coated hollow mesoporous silicon nanoparticles (HMSN) to serve as a drug delivery system, encapsulating ferroptosis inhibitor, Ferrostatin-1, along with an anti-CD47 antibody. We aimed to assess the potential of these nanoparticles (designated as Fer-aCD47@PHMSN) to specifically target the site of MI and evaluate their efficacy in reducing cardiomyocyte death and inflammation.
Results: The platelet membrane coating on the nanoparticles significantly enhanced their ability to successfully target the site of myocardial infarction (MI). Our findings demonstrate that treatment with Fer-aCD47@PHMSN resulted in a 38.5% reduction in cardiomyocyte ferroptosis under hypoxia, indicated by decreased lipid peroxidation and increased in vitro. Additionally, Fer-aCD47@PHMSN improved cardiomyocyte efferocytosis by approximately 15% in vitro. In MI mice treated with Fer-aCD47@PHMSN, we observed a substantial reduction in cardiomyocyte death (nearly 30%), decreased inflammation, and significant improvement in cardiac function.
Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that the cooperation between the two agents induced anti-ferroptosis effects and enhanced dead cardiomyocyte clearance by macrophage as well as anti-inflammation effects. Thus, our nanoparticle Fer-aCD47@PHMSN provides a new therapeutic strategy for targeted therapy of MI.

Keywords: myocardial infarction, ferroptosis, efferocytosis, HMSN