Inorganic Nanoparticle-Based Drug Codelivery Nanosystems To Overcome the Multidrug Resistance of Cancer Cells

A self-assembled albumin based multiple drug delivery nanosystem to overcome multidrug resistance

A self-assembled nano-sized albumin based drug delivery system co-loaded with an anti-tumor drug and a drug resistance inhibitor has promising applications in overcoming multidrug resistance (MDR).

A reduction-dissociable PEG-b-PGAH-b-PEI triblock copolymer as a vehicle for targeted co-delivery of doxorubicin and P-gp siRNA

The formation and drug release by dissociation in the tumor microenvironment of PEG-b-PGAH-b-PEI triblock copolymeric nanomicelleplexes.

A pH-sensitive nanocarrier for co-delivery of doxorubicin and camptothecin to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy and overcome multidrug resistance in vitro

A pH-sensitive drug delivery system of HSNPs sealed with ZnO QDs nanocarrier, where the HSNPs have the large hollow interiors for delivering hydrophobic camptothecin and the mesoporous structure for delivering hydrophilic doxorubicin.

Killing cancer cells by delivering a nanoreactor for inhibition of catalase and catalytically enhancing intracellular levels of ROS

Intracellular hydrogen peroxide levels have the potential to be exploited in cancer therapy.

The dual-stimulated release of size-selected cargos from cyclodextrin-covered mesoporous silica nanoparticles

A drug delivery system of dual-stimulated release of size-selected cargos from β-cyclodextrin-covered mesoporous silica nanoparticles was prepared.

Construction of a cancer-targeted nanosystem as a payload of iron complexes to reverse cancer multidrug resistance

This study demonstrates the construction of a cancer-targeted nanosystem as payload of iron complexes to reverse cancer multidrug resistance.

Tumor-targeted co-delivery of mitomycin C and 10-hydroxycamptothecin via micellar nanocarriers for enhanced anticancer efficacy

Polymer–lipid hybrid micelles co-delivered hydrophilic mitomycin C and hydrophobic 10-hydroxycamptothecin showed improved cellular uptake and cytotoxicity in vitro and enhanced tumor accumulation and antitumor activity in vivo.

Two-dimensional graphene analogues for biomedical applications

In this critical review, we summarize the state-of-the-art progress of two-dimensional graphene analogues with a particular focus on biomedical applications.

A salt-assisted acid etching strategy for hollow mesoporous silica/organosilica for pH-responsive drug and gene co-delivery

A salt-assisted acid etching (SAAE) strategy has been developed to construct rattle/hollow mesoporous silica/organosilica nanovehicles (R/HMSVs or R/HMOVs), which settles the drawbacks of traditional silica etching approaches, such as undesirable by-products, by alkaline etching and strong corrosion of the HF etching process. The hollow structure and phenylene-bridged framework of HMOVs were found to be responsible for the high cargo-loading capacity and pH-responsive drug releasing behavior, respectively, based on the special cargo-framework interaction. Especially, the molecularly organic-inorganic hybrid HMOVs have been, for the first time, successfully engineered to concurrently deliver anticancer drugs and P-gp-associated shRNA molecules for enhancing the intracellular drug concentrations and reversing the multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells. On the basis of this special SAAE strategy, a wide range of mesoporous silica-based hollow nanostructures are anticipated to be synthesized to satisfy the strict requirements in various nano-catalytic and biomedical applications.

Synergetic gating of metal-latching ligands and metal-chelating proteins for mesoporous silica nanovehicles to enhance delivery efficiency

Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems are highly desirable for improved therapeutic efficacy and minimized adverse effects of drugs. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) functionalized with pentadentate ligands, N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)ethylenediamine triacetate (TSP-DATA), in the presence of metal ions with and without myoglobin (Mb)-containing surface-accessible histidine residues, were constructed for pH-triggered controlled release. The DATA ligands immobilized on the MSN pore outlets could encapsulate cargo within the pores by metal latching across pore openings, and release efficiency increased with the increase of surface density of the DATA ligands. The release efficiencies for the metal-chelating protein nanogates, through multiple-site binding of Mb with the metal-chelating ligands, were higher than those for the metal-latching ligand nanogates but were almost independent of surface density of the ligands investigated. Both the metal-latching ligands and the metal-chelating proteins played a synergetic role in gating MSNs for high-loading drug delivery and stimuli-responsive controlled release. The constructed Mb-Cu(2+)-gated MSN delivery system has promising applications in targeted drug therapy of tumors.

Nanocarrier mediated delivery of siRNA/miRNA in combination with chemotherapeutic agents for cancer therapy: current progress and advances

Chemotherapeutic agents have certain limitations when it comes to treating cancer, the most important being severe side effects along with multidrug resistance developed against them. Tumor cells exhibit drug resistance due to activation of various cellular level processes viz. activation of drug efflux pumps, anti-apoptotic defense mechanisms, etc. Currently, RNA interference (RNAi) based therapeutic approaches are under vibrant scrutinization to seek cancer cure. Especially small interfering RNA (siRNA) and micro RNA (miRNA), are able to knock down the carcinogenic genes by targeting the mRNA expression, which underlies the uniqueness of this therapeutic approach. Recent research focus in the regime of cancer therapy involves the engagement of targeted delivery of siRNA/miRNA in combinations with other therapeutic agents (such as gene, DNA or chemotherapeutic drug) for targeting permeability glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistant protein 1 (MRP-1), B-cell lymphoma (BCL-2) and other targets that are mainly responsible for resistance in cancer therapy. RNAi-chemotherapeutic drug combinations have also been found to be effective against different molecular targets as well and can increase the sensitization of cancer cells to therapy several folds. However, due to stability issues associated with siRNA/miRNA suitable protective carrier is needed and nanotechnology based approaches have been widely explored to overcome these drawbacks. Furthermore, it has been univocally advocated that the co-delivery of siRNA/miRNA with other chemodrugs significantly enhances their capability to overcome cancer resistance compared to naked counterparts. The objective of this article is to review recent nanocarrier based approaches adopted for the delivery of siRNA/miRNA combinations with other anticancer agents (siRNA/miRNA/pDNA/chemodrugs) to treat cancer.

Potential for layered double hydroxides-based, innovative drug delivery systems

Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs)-based drug delivery systems have, for many years, shown great promises for the delivery of chemical therapeutics and bioactive molecules to mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. This system offers high efficiency and drug loading density, as well as excellent protection of loaded molecules from undesired degradation. Toxicological studies have also found LDHs to be biocompatible compared with other widely used nanoparticles, such as iron oxide, silica, and single-walled carbon nanotubes. A plethora of bio-molecules have been reported to either attach to the surface of or intercalate into LDH materials through co-precipitation or anion-exchange reaction, including amino acid and peptides, ATPs, vitamins, and even polysaccharides. Recently, LDHs have been used for gene delivery of small molecular nucleic acids, such as antisense, oligonucleotides, PCR fragments, siRNA molecules or sheared genomic DNA. These nano-medicines have been applied to target cells or organs in gene therapeutic approaches. This review summarizes current progress of the development of LDHs nanoparticle drug carriers for nucleotides, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer drugs and recent LDH application in medical research. Ground breaking studies will be highlighted and an outlook of the possible future progress proposed. It is hoped that the layered inorganic material will open up new frontier of research, leading to new nano-drugs in clinical applications.

The base discriminating potential of pyrrolidinyl PNA demonstrated by magnetic Fe(x)O(y) particles

Pyrrolidinyl PNA was immobilized on Fe(x)O(y) magnetic particles and was able to capture and thereby discriminate single base alterations in DNA counterstrands better than DNA. The selectivities of matched vs. mismatched oligonucleotides measured by the absorption differences were up to 10-12 which are remarkable values for linear probes.

Galactosylated reduction and pH dual-responsive triblock terpolymer Gal-PEEP-a-PCL-ss-PDMAEMA: a multifunctional carrier for the targeted and simultaneous delivery of doxorubicin and DNA

A multifunctional bioreducible system based on galactosamine-modified PEEP-a-PCL-ss-PDMAEMA has been prepared and used for the targeted co-delivery of doxorubicin and DNA.