Nano-chemotherapy using cationic liposome that strategically targets the cell membrane potential of pancreatic cancer cells with negative charge.

Negatively charged phosphatidylserine (PS) and sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids (GM1) were observed to be over represented on the cell membranes of pancreatic cancer cells (BxPC-3) as opposed to normal pancreatic cells. Cationic liposomes (CL) were also found to selectively accumulate into the negatively charged cell membranes of BxPC-3 cells and inhibited their growth but have no effect on the viability of normal pancreatic cells. CL induced apoptosis in BxPC-3 cells via activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9 and mitochondrial events and inhibited tumor enlargement in xenograft mouse models of pancreatic cancer.