Fig. 7: Functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA enhance anticancer effect of chemotherapy in breast cancer stem cells and in cancer-bearing mice.

a Cytotoxicity in CSCs in vitro. a1 Cytotoxicity in MCF-7 CSCs or SK-BR-3 CSCs after treatment with free drugs; a2 cytotoxicity in MCF-7 CSCs or SK-BR-3 CSCs after treatment with functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX. The results exhibit that ATRA is able to enhance cytotoxicity of docetaxel (DTX), and the functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX have the strongest efficacy in killing breast cancer stem cells. b Apoptosis in CSCs in vitro. b1 apoptosis in MCF-7 CSCs; b2 apoptosis in SK-BR-3 CSCs. (a) untreated; (b) free ATRA plus free DTX; c dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX; d functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3). The results demonstrate that the dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX are capable of increasing apoptosis of CSCs, thereby contributing to the killing effect on CSCs. c Destruction of CSCs sphere in vitro. The results exhibit that the functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX significantly destruct the CSCs spheres, leading to loosed structures and irregular shapes. d Anticancer efficacy in cancer-bearing nude mice. P < 0.05; (p) vs. physiological saline; (q) vs. ATRA and DTX; (r) vs. functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA; (s) vs. functional dendrisomes carrying DTX; (t) vs. dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX. The data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (n = 6). The results demonstrate that functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX have the strongest efficacy in inhibiting the tumor growth. e Apoptosis in the tumor tissues of breast cancer-bearing nude mice. (a) Physiological saline; (b) free ATRA plus free DTX; (c) dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX; (d) functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX. The results indicate that the functional dendrisomes carrying ATRA and DTX result in the strongest apoptosis in the tumor tissues