Hyaluronic acid-tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand conjugate for targeted treatment of liver fibrosis.

Liver fibrosis is a chronic liver disease caused by viral infection and/or metabolic, genetic and cholestatic disorders. The inhibition of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and the selective apoptosis of activated HSCs can be a good strategy to treat liver fibrosis. The activated HSCs are known to be more susceptible to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induced apoptosis than normal HSCs because death receptor 5 is overexpressed on the cell surface. In this work, a target-specific and long-acting hyaluronic acid (HA)–TRAIL conjugate was successfully developed for the treatment of liver fibrosis. The HA–TRAIL conjugate was synthesized by a coupling reaction between aldehyde-modified HA and the N-terminal amine group of TRAIL. The biological activity of the HA–TRAIL conjugate was confirmed by an in vitro anti-proliferation assay and caspase-3 expression in human colon cancer HCT116 cells. In vivo real-time bioimaging exhibited the target-specific delivery of near-infrared fluorescence dye-labeled HA–TRAIL conjugate to the liver in mice. According to pharmacokinetic analysis, the HA–TRAIL conjugate was detected for more than 4days after single intravenous injection into Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. Finally, we could confirm the antifibrotic effect of HA–TRAIL conjugate in an N-nitrosodimethylamine-induced liver fibrosis model SD rats.