Huang Y, Wang XY, Huang JY, Huang ZW. Incorporation of human β-defensin-1 into immunoliposomes to facilitate targeted autophagy therapy of colon carcinoma. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(3): 101098 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i3.101098]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zheng-Wei Huang, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, No. 855 East Xingye Dadao, Panyu District, Guangzhou 511443, Guangdong Province, China. huangzhengw@jnu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Ying Huang, Xi-Ye Wang, Jia-Yue Huang, Zheng-Wei Huang, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Huang Y was responsible for manuscript writing and file sorting; Wang XY and Huang JY were responsible for artwork preparation and manuscript formatting; Huang ZW was responsible for conceptualisation, supervision, manuscript proofreading, fund seeking and submission; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82104070; and Guangdong Universities Keynote Regions Special Funded Project, No. 2022ZDZX2002.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zheng-Wei Huang, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, No. 855 East Xingye Dadao, Panyu District, Guangzhou 511443, Guangdong Province, China. huangzhengw@jnu.edu.cn
Received: September 4, 2024 Revised: November 30, 2024 Accepted: December 17, 2024 Published online: March 24, 2025 Processing time: 139 Days and 1.6 Hours
Abstract
Based on the discovery that human β-defensin-1 (hBD-1) triggers autophagy in colon cancer cells and inhibits proliferation, we proposed the consideration of its druggability. As a protein, its stability, targetability and bioavailability must be improved. Compared with the traditional medicinal chemistry technology, nanotechnology is more economical for increasing the druggability of hBD-1 and can be readily scaled up. Here, we propose an immunoliposome system containing hBD-1 to improve its stability and bioavailability. To enhance its targetability, anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies were conjugated to the liposomal bilayer to produce immunoliposomes that can target EGFR, which is highly expressed in colon cancer cells. Although more studies are needed to support clinical trials and large-scale manufacturing, these immunoliposomes have great potential as therapeutics. Thus, immunoliposomes are suitable nanovesicles to improve the druggability of hBD-1; however, additional basic and translational research of these systems is warranted.
Core Tip: Nanotechnology is a cost-effective strategy for addressing the druggable properties of proteins. We propose an immunoliposome system that improves the stability, bioavailability and targeting properties of human β-defensin-1 (hBD-1), which will support its clinical translation. Our strategy is highly effective and may lead to positive clinical trials and large-scale production. We consider immunoliposomes to be suitable nanovesicles for enhancing the drug properties of hBD-1 and warrant further basic and translational research.
