Platelet Microvesicles as Targeted Anti-cancer Drug Delivery Tools

Platelets (PLTs) express surface markers targeting and being retained in the tumour sites where they degranulate. Thus they can serve as drug delivery (DDS) system of anti-cancer agents. Not much is known yet on the possibility to use platelet extracellular vesicles (PEVs) as cancer-tergeting DDS. The optimal methodologies to prepare and load PEVs) with anti-cancer drugs are unknown. PLTs will be treated with three physical methods to generate PEVs. Drug loading capacity will be measured by triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (TQMS). Number, size, and morphology of loaded PEVs will be determined by various nanotechnology tools. Surface markers will be cheked by Western blot. PEVs uptake by selected cancer cells will be analyzed by flow-cytometry and observed by fluoromicroscope, and cytotoxicity analyzed by CCK-8 assay. We aim at proving that PEVs can be a powerful clinical grade carrier for cancer treatment.