{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T20:49:33Z","timestamp":1793825373173,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785283200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009377","name":"Education Department of Hunan Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Realgar (As\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    S\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    ) has shown antitumor activity, but its pharmaceutical application is limited by poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, and systemic toxicity. In this study, we developed AS1411-functionalized albumin nanoparticles (As\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    S\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    @ BSA-AS1411 NPs) for targeted delivery of realgar to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Bulk As\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    S\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    was converted into nanosized clusters and encapsulated in a bovine serum albumin (BSA) matrix, followed by surface conjugation with the nucleolin-targeting aptamer AS1411. The resulting nanoparticles showed suitable physicochemical properties and good colloidal stability in physiologically relevant media, together with enhanced cellular internalization in 4T1 cells. Compared with non-targeted nanoparticles, AS1411 modification significantly increased cytotoxicity and reduced the migratory ability of 4T1 cells. Mechanistic studies showed that treatment with As\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    S\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    @BSA-AS1411 NPs was associated with upregulation of GADD45G and downregulation of mTOR, suggesting a stress-related antiproliferative effect.\n                    <jats:italic>In vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                    fluorescence imaging demonstrated increased tumor accumulation of AS1411-functionalized NPs. In 4T1 tumor-bearing mice, systemic administration of As\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    S\n                    <jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>\n                    @BSA-AS1411 NPs produced greater tumor growth inhibition than non-targeted controls, accompanied by increased apoptosis and reduced proliferative activity in tumor tissues. In addition, the formulation showed good\n                    <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                    tolerability, with no evident systemic toxicity or hemolytic activity. These findings indicate that AS1411-functionalized albumin NPs are a promising delivery system for improving the antitumor efficacy and safety profile of realgar in TNBC.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2026.1891302","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T06:02:13Z","timestamp":1785304933000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["AS1411-functionalized albumin nanoparticles for nucleolin-targeted realgar delivery and therapy in triple-negative breast cancer"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Liping","family":"Dong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Changsha Medical University","place":["ChangSha, China"]},{"name":"Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the Research and Development of Novel Pharmaceutical Preparations","place":["ChangSha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenzhuo","family":"Ran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology","place":["Wuhan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanqiong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Changsha Medical University","place":["ChangSha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lixia","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Changsha Medical University","place":["ChangSha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xi","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Changsha Medical University","place":["ChangSha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"674","DOI":"10.1038\/nrclinonc.2016.66","article-title":"Triple-negative breast cancer: challenges and opportunities of a heterogeneous disease","volume":"13","author":"Bianchini","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. 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