Enhanced Glioblastoma Selectivity of Harmine via the Albumin Carrier

Abstract

Glioblastoma, the most common tumor in the brain, has witnessed very little clinical progress over the last decades. Exploring and discovering new therapeutic strategies for glioblastoma has become a critical problem. Harmine (HM), belonging to the beta-carboline alkaloid, is a natural product and isolated from the seeds of Peganum harmala L., which own notable antitumor activity in vitro. However, the poor water solubility and less selectivity of HM severely limit its clinical use. For enhancing its selective ability to tumor cells, we fabricated a kind of protein nanoparticles (BSA-HM NPs), composed of the modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) and HM. It was substantiated through in vitro and in vivo experiment that BSA-HM NPs could predominantly accumulate in tumor tissues and exhibited remarkably enhanced antitumor efficacy. This study provides a promising strategy to improve the bioavailability and avoid side effects of HM as antitumor agents by choosing BSA as carriers.