Paclitaxel (PTX) is a first-line chemotherapeutic
drug for
breast cancer, but PTX resistance often occurs in metastatic
breast cancer. In addition, due to the poor targeting of chemotherapeutic drugs and the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), it is hard to effectively treat brain metastatic
breast cancer using
paclitaxel. Thus, it is urgent to develop an effective drug delivery system for the treatment of brain metastatic
breast cancer. The current study found that TWF1 gene, an epithelial-mesenchymal transition-associated gene, was overexpressed in brain metastatic
breast cancer (231-BR) cells and was associated with the PTX resistance of 231-BR cells. Knockdown of TWF1 by small interference RNA (
siRNA) in 231-BR cells could effectively increase the sensitivity of brain metastatic
breast cancer cells to
paclitaxel. Then, a
liposome-based drug delivery system was developed for PTX delivery across BBB, enhancing PTX sensitivity and
brain metastases targeting via
BRBP1 peptide modification. The results showed that BRBP1-modified
liposomes could effectively cross the BBB, specifically accumulate in
brain metastases, and effectively interfere TWF1 gene expression in vitro and in vivo, and thus they enhanced proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis induction, thereby inhibiting the formation and growth of
brain metastases. In summary, our results indicated that BRBP1-modified and PTX- and TWF1
siRNA-loaded
liposomes have the potential for the treatment of brain metastatic
breast cancer, which lays the foundation for the development of a new targeted drug delivery system.