Initiation and recurrence of
lung cancer, the most fatal
cancer worldwide, are attributed to
lung cancer stem cells (CSCs). Evidence suggests that
cancer cells can be turned into CSCs in a spontaneous way, and therefore simultaneous elimination of lung CSCs and
cancer cells is crucial to achieve effective
therapy of
lung cancer. In
lung cancer,
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in both CSCs and
cancer cells. The present study developed
salinomycin poly(
ethylene glycol) 2000-distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine nanomicelles conjugated with EGFR aptamers (M-SAL-EGFR) to kill lung CSCs and
cancer cells. The 24 nm sized M-SAL-EGFR was prepared by a
lipid film based method. The EGFR was overexpressed in lung CSCs and
cancer cells. Results revealed that the M-SAL-EGFR could efficiently bind to EGFR-overexpressing lung CSCs and
cancer cells, and induced enhanced cyotoxic effect than non-targeted M-SAL and
salinomycin. Administration of M-SAL-EGFR in mice with
lung cancer xenograft inhibited
tumor growth more effectively compared with M-SAL and
salinomycin. The EGFR aptamers were thus able to promote effective
salinomycin delivery to
lung cancer. Our results also suggest that the M-SAL-EGFR represents a promising approach for targeting both lung CSCs and
cancer cells.