Triple-negative breast cancer stem cells (TCSCs) are considered as the origin of recurrence and relapse. It is difficult to kill not only for its resistance, but also the lacking of targetable molecules on membrane. Here, it is confirmed that ST6 β-galactoside alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase 1 (ST6Gal-1) is highly expressed in TCSCs that may be the key enzyme involved in glycoengineering via sialic acid (SA) metabolism. SA co-localizes with a microdomain on cell membrane termed as lipid rafts that enrich CSCs marker and necroptosis proteins mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL), suggesting that TCSCs may be sensitive to necroptosis. Thus, the triacetylated N-azidoacetyl-d-mannosamine (Ac3ManNAz) is synthesized as the glycoengineering substrate and applied to introduce artificial azido receptors, dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO)-modified liposome is used to deliver Compound 6i (C6), a receptor-interacting serine/threonine protein kinase 1(RIPL1)-RIP3K-mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein(MLKL) activator, to induce necroptosis. The pro-necroptosis effect is aggravated by nitric oxide (NO), which is released from NO-depot of cholesterol-NO integrated in DBCO-PEG-liposome@NO/C6 (DLip@NO/C6). Together with the immunogenicity of necroptosis that releases high mobility group box 1(HMGB1) of damage-associated molecular patterns, TCSCs are significantly killed in vitro and in vivo. The results suggest a promising strategy to improve the therapeutic effect on the non-targetable TCSCs with high expression of ST6Gal-1 via combination of glycoengineering and necroptosis induction.
Keywords: ST6Gal‐1; bioorthogonal drug delivery; cancer stem cells; glycoengineering; lipid rafts; necroptosis; sialic acid metabolism.
© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.