TRANSFERRIN DIRECTED DELIVERY OF ADRIAMYCIN TO HUMAN-CELLS

Transferrin was covalently conjugated to adriamycin (Trf-adr) by the f ormation of a schiff base. This conjugate was found to bind to cell me mbrane trf receptors in a variety of human tumor cell lines. The Trf-a dr conjugate was found to be active against sensitive and resistant ce ll lines e.g. Love, HL-60, H-meso and Hep2. It was, however, found tha t Trf-adr conjugate was more potent against resistant human tumor cell lines as compared to sensitive cell lines (based on cytotoxicity assa ys). The Trf- adr conjugate was then tested against nude mice bearing human mesothelioma tumors in their peritoneal cavity. The Trf-adr conj ugate prolonged the lifespan of advanced tumor bearing nude mice as co mpared to either adriamycin alone or adriamycin and trf unlinked. Our studies show that trf call be succesfully used as an ligand for direct ing anticancer drugs to human tumor cells.