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. 2025 Apr;197(4):2301-2311.
doi: 10.1007/s12010-024-05177-x. Epub 2024 Dec 30.

ReV as a Novel S. cerevisiae-Derived Drug Carrier to Enhance Anticancer Therapy through Daunorubicin Delivery

Yunyoung Cho  1 , Jiwoo Lim  1 , Yang-Hoon Kim  2 , Jiho Min  3
Affiliations

ReV as a Novel S. cerevisiae-Derived Drug Carrier to Enhance Anticancer Therapy through Daunorubicin Delivery

Yunyoung Cho et al. Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

This study explores the potential of vacuoles derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) as a novel form of drug carrier, specifically focusing on their application in enhancing the delivery of the chemotherapeutic agent Daunorubicin (DNR). We isolated and reassembled these vacuoles, referred to as Reassembled Vacuoles (ReV), aiming to overcome the challenges of drug degradation caused by hydrolytic enzymes within traditional vacuoles. ReV encapsulating DNR were tested against HL-60 cells, a model for acute myeloid leukemia, to evaluate their therapeutic impact. Through various analyses, including Nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and Field-emission electron scanning microscope (FE-SEM), we characterized the properties of ReV. Our findings revealed that ReV exhibited superior stability, drug release rate, and cytotoxic efficacy compared to normal vacuoles (NorV). Notably, ReV demonstrated a higher apoptosis rate in HL-60 cells, efficient and complete release of DNR within 24 h, and reduced cytotoxic side effects. These results suggest that ReV could represent a new and effective drug delivery system in anticancer therapy, paving the way for more targeted and safer cancer treatment modalities.

Keywords: S. cerevisiae vacuoles; Anticancer therapy; Daunorubicin (DNR) delivery; Drug carrier; Reassembled vacuoles (ReV).

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Consent to Participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in this study. Consent to publish: The authors confirm that human subjects provided informed consent for the publication of images of all figures in this paper. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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