Lipid Prodrug Nanoassemblies via Dynamic Covalent Boronates

Prodrug nanoassemblies combine the advantages of prodrug and nanomedicines, offering great potential in targeting the lesion sites and specific on-demand drug release, maximizing the therapeutic performance while minimizing their side effects. However, there is still lacking a facile pathway to prepare the lipid prodrug nanoassemblies (LPNAs). Herein, we report the LPNAs via the dynamic covalent boronate between catechol and boronic acid. The resulting LPNAs possess properties like drug loading in a dynamic covalent manner, charge reversal in an acidic microenvironment, and specific drug release at an acidic and/or oxidative microenvironment. Our methodology enables the encapsulation and delivery of three model drugs: ciprofloxacin, bortezomib, and miconazole. Moreover, the LPNAs are often more efficient in eradicating pathogens or cancer cells than their free counterparts, both in vitro and in vivo. Together, our LPNAs with intriguing properties may boost the development of drug delivery and facilitate their clinical applications.

Development of stimuli responsive polymeric nanomedicines modulating tumor microenvironment for improved cancer therapy

The complexity of the tumor microenvironment (TME) severely hinders the therapeutic effects of various cancer treatment modalities. The TME differs from normal tissues owing to the presence of hypoxia, low pH, and immune-suppressive characteristics. Modulation of the TME to reverse tumor growth equilibrium is considered an effective way to treat tumors. Recently, polymeric nanomedicines have been widely used in cancer therapy, because their synthesis can be controlled and they are highly modifiable, and have demonstrated great potential to remodel the TME. In this review, we outline the application of various stimuli responsive polymeric nanomedicines to modulate the TME, aiming to provide insights for the design of the next generation of polymeric nanomedicines and promote the development of polymeric nanomedicines for cancer therapy.

Protein-Antibody Conjugates (PACs): A Plug-and-Play Strategy for Covalent Conjugation and Targeted Intracellular Delivery of Pristine Proteins

We report here on protein-antibody conjugates (PACs) that are used for antibody-directed delivery of protein therapeutics to specific cells. PACs have the potential to judiciously combine the merits of two prolific therapeutic approaches-biologics and antibody-drug conjugates. We utilize spherical polymer brushes to construct PACs using the combination of two simple and efficient functionally orthogonal click chemistries. In addition to the synthesis and characterization of these nanoparticles, we demonstrate that PACs are indeed capable of specifically targeting cells based on the presence of target antigen on the cell surface to deliver proteins. The potentially broad adaptability of PACs opens up new opportunities for targeted biologics in therapeutics and sensing.