Surface-modified vacuole-based daunorubicin delivery system for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and their selective therapeutics

The vacuoles in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are the key players digesting the waste within the cell. This functional organelle corresponding to the lysosome of mammalians contains acidic hydrolases and specific membrane proteins. Vacuoles have more than 60 hydrolytic enzymes and can easily be modified by genetic engineering. In previous study, we optimised the encapsulation condition with appropriate time and concentration and confirmed the use of vacuole as drug delivery carrier for acute myeloid leukaemia treatment. In this study, recombinant vacuole that could target the acute myeloid leukaemia cell line was constructed. The vacuoles derived from genetic engineered yeast were decorated with targeting peptide that has specific affinity with TLR2 on AML cell membrane. The anti-cancer efficacy of AML targeting vacuoles carriers with encapsulated daunorubicin was shown to be higher than normal vacuole carriers and the crude daunorubicin. The results confirmed that target selective chemotherapy using the vacuole drug delivery system is effective and offers potential for cancer therapy.