Renal-Clearable Metalloporphyrin Complex-Based Nanosonosensitizers Using Photoacoustic Imaging Guiding to Enhance Sonodynamic Cancer Therapy

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a noninvasive approach to tumor treatment, with ongoing efforts being focused on developing highly effective sonosensitizers with low toxicity. Herein, a liquid-phase stripping technique was introduced as a simple reflux method for synthesizing ultrasmall Mn-PCN-224 nanodots (MM NDs). Compared with PCN-224 nanodots, the synthesized MM NDs, which function as renal-clearable nanoagents, produced 2.42 times more reactive oxygen species (ROS) under identical ultrasound (US) irradiation conditions. In vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that A549 lung cancer cells treated with MM NDs under US irradiation and H2O2 exhibited a relative cell viability of ∼9% and a tumor inhibition rate of ∼91%. This result demonstrates that MM NDs can efficiently increase the effectiveness of SDT by leveraging their catalase-like activity and ultrasmall size (4 nm) to prevent ROS quenching. Furthermore, these nanoagents could be effectively utilized for photoacoustic (PA) imaging to track their accumulation in tumors and monitor the alleviation of the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. Notably, MM ND-mediated SDT demonstrated superior penetration depth compared to PDT, making it more effective in inhibiting contralateral tumors while facilitating deep-tissue treatment. Thus, this study introduces renal-clearable nanoagents with promising potential for PA-guided SDT, thereby paving the way for more effective tumor treatment strategies.

Neuropilin-1-Targeted Nanomedicine for Spatiotemporal Tumor Suppression through Photodynamic Vascular Damage and Antiangiogenesis

Antiangiogenic therapy is an effective way to disrupt nutrient supply and starve tumors, but it is restricted by poor efficacy and negative feedback-induced tumor relapse. In this study, a neuropilin-1 (NRP-1)-targeted nanomedicine (designated as FPPT@Axi) is reported for spatiotemporal tumor suppression by combining photodynamic therapy (PDT) with antiangiogenesis. In brief, FPPT@Axi is prepared by utilizing an NRP-1-targeting chimeric peptide (Fmoc-K(PpIX)-PEG8-TKPRR) to encapsulate the antiangiogenic drug Axitinib (Axi). Importantly, the NRP-1-mediated targeting property enables FPPT@Axi to selectively concentrate at vascular endothelial and breast cancer cells, facilitating the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in situ for specific vascular disruption and enhanced cell apoptosis under light stimulation. Moreover, the codelivered Axi can further inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) to impair the negative feedback of PDT-induced tumor neovascularization. Consequently, FPPT@Axi spatiotemporally restrains the tumor growth through blocking angiogenesis, destroying tumor vessels, and inducing tumor apoptosis. Such an NRP-1-mediated targeting codelivery system sheds light on constructing an appealing candidate with translational potential by using clinically approved PDT and chemotherapy.

Hydroxychloroquine: Key therapeutic advances and emerging nanotechnological landscape for cancer mitigation

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a unique class of medications that has been widely utilized for the treatment of cancer. HCQ plays a dichotomous role by inhibiting autophagy induced by the tumor microenvironment (TME). Preclinical studies support the use of HCQ for anti-cancer therapy, especially in combination with conventional anti-cancer treatments since they sensitize tumor cells to drugs, potentiating the therapeutic activity. However, clinical evidence has suggested poor outcomes for HCQ due to various obstacles, including non-specific distribution, low aqueous solubility and low bioavailability at target sites, transport across tissue barriers, and retinal toxicity. These issues are addressable via the integration of HCQ with nanotechnology to produce HCQ-conjugated nanomedicines. This review aims to discuss the pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and antitumor properties of HCQ. Furthermore, the antitumor performance of the nanoformulated HCQ is also reviewed thoroughly, aiming to serve as a guide for the HCQ-based enhanced treatment of cancers. The nanoencapsulation or nanoconjugation of HCQ with nanoassemblies appears to be a promising method for reducing the toxicity and improving the antitumor efficacy of HCQ.

Immunologically active ferumoxytol-poly(I : C) nanomaterials inhibit metastatic melanoma by regulating myeloid-derived suppressor cell differentiation

Nanomaterials have been identified as a potential therapeutic option for targeting myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which are known to play a crucial role in tumor metastasis and treatment resistance. Here, we report a unique immunologically active nanomaterial composed of ferumoxytol and poly(I : C) (FP-NPs) and investigate its immunoregulatory activities on MDSCs in metastatic melanoma. In vivo assays demonstrated that FP-NPs had the ability to significantly impede the progression of metastatic melanoma and decrease the MDSC population in the lungs, spleen, and bone marrow of mice. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that FP-NPs reduced the number of granulocytic MDSCs and promoted the differentiation of monocytic MDSCs into anti-tumor M1 macrophages. Transcriptome sequencing indicated that FP-NPs significantly altered the expression of several genes involved in immunity. Analysis of Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and quantitative real-time PCR revealed that FP-NPs significantly increased the expression of the myeloid cell differentiation-related gene interferon regulatory factor 7 and activated interferon beta-related signaling pathways, which stimulated the differentiation of MDSCs into M1 macrophages. These findings suggest that FP-NPs, a unique nanomaterial with immunological properties, can induce MDSCs to differentiate into M1 macrophages, potentially offering new treatment prospects for metastatic melanoma in the future.

Oncogene-targeting nanoprobes for early imaging detection of tumor

Malignant tumors have been one of the major reasons for deaths worldwide. Timely and accurate diagnosis as well as effective intervention of tumors play an essential role in the survival of patients. Genomic instability is the important foundation and feature of cancer, hence, in vivo oncogene imaging based on novel probes provides a valuable tool for the diagnosis of cancer at early-stage. However, the in vivo oncogene imaging is confronted with great challenge, due to the extremely low copies of oncogene in tumor cells. By combining with various novel activatable probes, the molecular imaging technologies provide a feasible approach to visualize oncogene in situ, and realize accurate treatment of tumor. This review aims to declare the design of nanoprobes responded to tumor associated DNA or RNA, and summarize their applications in detection and bioimaging for tumors. The significant challenges and prospective of oncogene-targeting nanoprobes towards tumors diagnosis are revealed as well.

Fucoidan, as an immunostimulator promotes M1 macrophage differentiation and enhances the chemotherapeutic sensitivity of capecitabine in colon cancer

Chemotherapy resistance is one of the most critical challenges in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. The occurrence and development of chemotherapy resistance closely related to the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). As the most important immunosuppressive immune cells infiltrating into the TIME, macrophages are essential for chemotherapy resistance in CRC treatment. In this study, we found that a kind of fucoidan (FPS1M) induced macrophages differentiation to the M1 phenotype, and this transformation promoted cancer cells apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. TNFα is a key mediator of FPS1M-induced tumorcidal activity of macrophages. Mechanistically, as a stimulator of TLR4, FPS1M enhanced macrophages glycolysis and regulated macrophages differentiation to the M1 phenotype by the activation of TLR4 mediated PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling axis. In addition, FPS1M improved the immunosuppressed tumor microenvironment by increasing the infiltration of M1 macrophages in tumor tissue, which was conducive to improving the sensitivity of tumor to chemotherapy. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that FPS1M has the great potential to be used in tumor immunotherapy. The results also suggested that the combination of FPS1M with capecitabine is an alternative therapy method for colon cancer.

Discovery of a Novel Vascular Disrupting Agent Inhibiting Tubulin Polymerization and HDACs with Potent Antitumor Effects

Most vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) fail to prevent the regrowth of blood vessels at the edge of tumors, causing tumor rebound and relapse. Herein, a series of novel multifunctional vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) capable of inhibiting microtubule polymerization and histone deacetylases (HDACs) were designed and synthesized using the tubulin polymerization inhibitor TH-0 as the lead compound. Among them, compound TH-6 exhibited the most potent antiproliferative activity (IC₅₀ = 18-30 nM) against a panel of cancer cell lines. As expected, TH-6 inhibited tubulin assembly and increased the acetylation level of HDAC substrate proteins in HepG2 cells. Further in vivo antitumor assay displayed that TH-6 effectively inhibited tumor growth with no apparent toxicity. More importantly, TH-6 disrupted both the internal and peripheral tumor vasculatures, which contributed to the persistent tumor inhibitory effects after drug withdrawal. Altogether, TH-6 deserves to be further investigated for the new approach to clinical cancer therapy.

Pancancer Analyses Reveal Genomics and Clinical Characteristics of the SETDB1 in Human Tumors

Background. Malignant tumor is one of the most common diseases that seriously affect human health. The prior literature has reported the biological function and potential therapeutic targets of SET domain bifurcated histone lysine methyltransferase 1 (SETDB1) as an oncogene. However, SETDB1 has rarely been analyzed from a pan-cancer perspective. Methods. Bioinformatics analysis tools and databases, including GeneCards, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), UniProt, Illustrator for Biological Sequences (IBS), Human Protein Atlas (HPA), GEPIA, TIMER2, Sangerbox 3.0, UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier (K-M) plotter, cBioPortal, Catalogue Of Somatic Mutations In Cancer (COSMIC), PhosphoSitePlus, TISIDB, STRING, and GeneMANIA, were utilized to clarify the biological functions and clinical significance of SETDB1 from a pan-cancer perspective. Results. In this study, the pan-cancer analysis demonstrated that SETDB1 showed significantly differential expression in most tumor tissues and paracancerous tissues, and SETDB1 expression was associated with clinicopathological features and clinical prognosis. We also found that SETDB1 mutations occurred in most tumors and were related to tumorigenesis. In addition, DNA methylation of SETDB1 primarily occurred at the cg10444928 site and was associated with prognosis in several human tumors. The predicted phosphorylation site of SETDB1 was Ser1006. We found that SETDB1 was significantly related to the specific tumor-infiltrating immune cell populations and expression of clinically targetable immune checkpoints and may be a promising immunotherapy target. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses also indicated that SETDB1 may function as crucial regulator in carcinogenesis of human cancers. Conclusions. SETDB1 is an important oncogene involved in tumorigenesis and tumor progression through different biological mechanisms. Furthermore, SETDB1 may be a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment.

Untargeted metabolomics reveals alterations in the metabolic reprogramming of prostate cancer cells by double-stranded DNA-modified gold nanoparticles

Metabolic reprogramming plays an important role in the development of prostate cancer (PCa). However, there are few reports on the effects of nanomaterials as vectors on cancer metabolic reprogramming. Herein, a type of nanoparticle with good biocompatibility was synthesized by modifying the double-stranded of DNA containing a sulfhydryl group on the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs-dsDNA) through salt-aging conjugation methods. The resultant AuNPs-dsDNA complexes possessed low toxicity to PC3 and DU145 cells in vitro. There was also no obvious hepatorenal toxicity after intravenous injection of AuNPs-dsDNA complexes in vivo, which indicated that these nanoparticles had good biological compatibilities. We investigated their biological functions using prostate cancer cells. Seahorse assay showed that AuNPs-dsDNA complexes could increase glycolysis and glycolysis capacity both in PC3 and DU145 cells. We further detected the expression of glycolysis-related genes by qPCR assay, and found that PKM2, PDHA, and LDHA were significantly upregulated. Furthermore, untargeted metabolomics revealed that PC (18:2(9Z,12Z)/18:2(9Z,12Z)) and PC (18:0/18:2 (9Z,12Z)) levels were decreased and inosinic acid level was increased in PC3 cells. Whereas (3S,6E,10E)-1,6,10,14-Phytatetraen-3-ol, Plasmenyl-PE 36:5 and Cer (d18:2/18:2) were decreased, PE 21:3 and 1-pyrrolidinecarboxaldehyde were increased in DU145 cells after co-culturing with AuNPs-dsDNA. In summary, we found that AuNPs and AuNPs-dsDNA complexes possibly regulate the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells mainly through the lipid metabolic pathways, which could compensate for the previously mentioned phenomenon of enhanced glycolysis and glycolysis capacity. This will provide an important theoretical basis for our future research on the characteristic targeted design of nanomaterials for cancer metabolism.

Sequential Delivery of Quercetin and Paclitaxel for the Fibrotic Tumor Microenvironment Remodeling and Chemotherapy Potentiation via a Dual-Targeting Hybrid Micelle-in-Liposome System

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), an important type of stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME), are responsible for creating physical barriers to drug delivery and penetration in tumor tissues. Thus, effectively downregulating CAFs to destroy the physical barrier may allow enhanced penetration and accumulation of therapeutic drugs, thereby improving therapeutic outcomes. Herein, a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-triggered dual-targeting hybrid micelle-in-liposome system (RPM@NLQ) was constructed to sequentially deliver quercetin (Que) and paclitaxel (PTX) for fibrotic TME remodeling and chemotherapy potentiation. Specifically, antifibrotic Que and small-sized RGD-modified micelles containing PTX (RPM) were co-encapsulated into MMP-sensitive liposomes, and the liposomes were further adorned with the NGR peptide (NL) as the targeting moiety. The resulting RPM@NLQ first specifically accumulated at the tumor site under the guidance of the NGR peptide after intravenous administration and then released Que and RPM in response to the extensive expression of MMP in the TME. Subsequently, Que was retained in the stroma to remarkably downregulate fibrosis and decrease the stromal barrier by downregulating Wnt16 expression in CAFs, which further resulted in a significant increase of RPM for deeper tumor. Thus, RPM could precisely target and kill breast cancer cells locally. Consequently, prolonged blood circulation, selective cascade targeting of tumor tissue and tumor cells, enhanced penetration, and excellent antitumor efficacy have been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, as-designed sequential delivery systems for fibrotic TME remodeling and chemotherapy potentiation may provide a promising adjuvant therapeutic strategy for breast and other CAF-rich tumors.

Propofol induces apoptosis and ameliorates 5‑fluorouracil resistance in OSCC cells by reducing the expression and secretion of amphiregulin

Among the different types of oral cancer, >90% of cases are oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a commonly used treatment for OSCC, but cells typically display resistance to the drug. Propofol, an intravenous anesthetic agent, exhibits certain anticancer effects, including the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Secreted proteins, such as growth factors and cytokines are involved in cancer development and progression, but the effect of propofol on secreted proteins in OSCC is not completely understood. An MTT assay, flow cytometry and western blotting were performed to determine the anticancer effects of propofol. The secretion profile of OSCC was determined using an antibody array, and clinical importance was assessed using the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database. The results were verified by performing reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. 5-FU-resistant cells were established to determine the role of the gene of interest in drug resistance. The results demonstrated that propofol decreased cell viability and promoted cell apoptosis. The antibody array results showed that propofol attenuated the secretion of multiple growth factors. The bioinformatics results indicated that amphiregulin (AREG) was expressed at significantly higher levels in cancer tissues, which was also related to poor prognosis. The results of RT-qPCR and western blotting revealed that propofol decreased AREG expression. Pretreatment with exogenous recombinant AREG increased EGFR activation and conferred propofol resistance. Moreover, the results indicated that the expression and activation of AREG was also related to 5-FU resistance, but propofol ameliorated 5-FU drug resistance. Therefore, the present study suggested that propofol combination therapy may serve as an effective treatment strategy for OSCC.

Tumor Microenvironment Modulating Functional Nanoparticles for Effective Cancer Treatments

Cancer is one of the major diseases that threaten human life worldwide. Despite advances in cancer treatment techniques, such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, it is still difficult to cure cancer because of the resistance mechanism of cancer cells. Current understanding of tumor biology has revealed that resistance to these anticancer therapies is due to the tumor microenvironment (TME) represented by hypoxia, acidity, dense extracellular matrix, and immunosuppression. This review demonstrates the latest strategies for effective cancer treatment using functional nanoparticles that can modulate the TME. Indeed, preclinical studies have shown that functional nanoparticles can effectively modulate the TME to treat refractory cancer. This strategy of using TMEs with controllable functional nanoparticles is expected to maximize cancer treatment efficiency in the future by combining it with various modern cancer therapeutics.

Co-delivery systems: hope for clinical application?

Cancer is a multidimensional and challenging disease to handle. Current statistics reveal that we are far from satisfying cancer treatment. Taking advantage of different therapeutic agents that affect multiple pathways has been established as highly productive. Nevertheless, owing to several hindrances to conventional combination therapy, such as lack of tumor targeting, non-uniform pharmacokinetic of the combined drugs, and off-target side effects, it is well documented that this treatment approach is unlikely to address all the difficulties observed in monotherapy. Co-delivery systems could enhance the therapeutic efficacy of the combination therapy by targeting cancer cells and improving the pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties of the therapeutic agents. Nevertheless, it seems that present knowledge in responding to the challenges in cancer treatment is still inadequate and far from optimal treatment, which highlights the urgent need for systematic studies direct to identify various aspects of co-delivery systems. Accordingly, to gather informative data, save time, and achieve superior results, the following steps are necessary: (1) implementing computational methods to predict drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in vitro and in vivo, (2) meticulous cancer studies at the cellular and molecular levels to obtain specific criteria for selecting preclinical and clinical models, (3) extensive physiological and pharmacokinetic study of nanocarriers behavior in preclinical models, and (4) finding the optimal formulation and analyzing its behavior in cellular and animal models facilitates bridging in vivo models to clinical trials. This review aims to deliver an overview of co-delivery systems, rationales, and suggestions for further studies in this field.

Bifunctional Therapeutic Peptide Assembled Nanoparticles Exerting Improved Activities of Tumor Vessel Normalization and Immune Checkpoint Inhibition

The effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy is impaired by the dysfunctional vasculature of tumors. Created hypoxia zones and limited delivery of cytotoxic immune cells help to have immune resistance in tumor tissue. Structural and functional normalization of abnormal tumor vasculature provide vessels for more perfusion efficiency and drug delivery that result in alleviating the hypoxia in the tumor site and increasing infiltration of antitumor T cells. Taking advantage of peptide amphiphiles, herein, a novel peptide amphiphile nanoparticle composed of an antiangiogenic peptide (FSEC) and an immune checkpoint blocking peptide (^D PPA) is designed and characterized. FSEC peptide is known to be involved in vessel normalization of tumors in vivo. ^D PPA is an inhibitory peptide of the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint pathway. The peptide amphiphile nanoparticle sets out to test whether simultaneous modulation of tumor vasculature and immune systems in the tumor microenvironment has a synergistic effect on tumor suppression. Increased intratumoral infiltration of immune cells following vascular normalization, and simultaneously blocking the immune checkpoint function of PD-L1 reactivates effective immune responses to the tumors. In summary, the current study provides a new perspective on the regulation of tumor vessel normalization and immunotherapy based on functional peptide nanoparticles as nanomedicine for improved therapeutic purposes.

Platelet-Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles Enable Vascular Disrupting Agent Combining Anti-Angiogenic Drug for Improved Tumor Vessel Impairment

Compared with traditional chemotherapeutics, vascular disruption agents (VDAs) have the advantages of rapidly blocking the supply of nutrients and starving tumors to death. Although the VDAs are effective under certain scenarios, this treatment triggers angiogenesis in the later stage of therapy that frequently leads to tumor recurrence and treatment failure. Additionally, the nonspecific tumor targeting and considerable side effects also impede the clinical applications of VDAs. Here we develop a customized strategy that combines a VDA with an anti-angiogenic drug (AAD) using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) coated with platelet membrane for the self-assembled tumor targeting accumulation. The tailor-made nanoparticles accumulate in tumor tissues through the targeted adhesion of platelet membrane surface to damaged vessel sites, resulting in significant vascular disruption and efficient anti-angiogenesis in animal models. This study demonstrates the promising potential of combining VDA and AAD in a single nanoplatform for tumor eradication.

Tailoring Antifouling Properties of Nanocarriers via Entropic Collision of Polymer Grafting

Polymer graftings (PGs) are widely employed in antifouling surfaces and drug delivery systems to regulate the interaction with a foreign environment. Through molecular dynamics simulations and scaling theory analysis, we investigate the physical antifouling properties of PGs via their collision behaviors. Compared with mushroom-like PGs with low grafting density, we find brush-like PGs with high grafting density could generate large deformation-induced entropic repulsive force during a collision, revealing a microscopic mechanism for the hop motions of polymer-grafted nanoparticles for drug delivery observed in experiment. In addition, the collision elasticity of PGs is found to decay with the collision velocity by a power law, i.e., a concise dynamic scaling despite the complex process involved, which is beyond expectation. These results elucidate the dynamic interacting mechanism of PGs, which are of immediate interest for a fundamental understanding of the antifouling performance of PGs and the rational design of PG-coated nanoparticles in nanomedicine for drug delivery.

Clinical Potential of Nerve Input to Tumors: A Bioelectricity Perspective

We support the notion that the neural connections of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the associated 'bioelectricity' play significant role in the pathophysiology of cancer. In several cancers, the nerve input promotes the cancer process. While straightforward surgical denervation of tumors, therefore, could improve prognosis, resulting side effects of such a procedure would be unpredictable and irreversible. On the other hand, tumor innervation can be manipulated effectively for therapeutic purposes by alternative novel approaches broadly termed "electroceuticals." In this perspective, we evaluate the clinical potential of targeting the TME first through manipulation of the nerve input itself and second by application of electric fields directly to the tumor. The former encompasses several different biophysical and biochemical approaches. These include implantable devices, nanoparticles, and electroactive polymers, as well as optogenetics and chemogenetics. As regard bioelectrical manipulation of the tumor itself, the "tumor-treating field" technique, applied to gliomas commonly in combination with chemotherapy, is evaluated. Also, as electroceuticals, drugs acting on ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors are highlighted for completeness. It is concluded, first, that electroceuticals comprise a broad range of biomedical tools. Second, such electroceuticals present significant clinical potential for exploiting the neural component of the TME as a strategy against cancer. Finally, the inherent bioelectric characteristics of tumors themselves are also amenable to complementary approaches. Collectively, these represent an evolving, dynamic field and further progress and applications can be expected to follow both conceptually and technically.

Extracellular Microparticles Encapsulated with Diallyl Trisulfide Interfere with the Inflammatory Tumor Microenvironment and Lung Metastasis of Invasive Melanoma

Lung metastasis is a fatal and late-stage event for many solid tumors. Multiple lines of evidence have demonstrated that diallyl trisulfide (DATS), an active ingredient of garlic, possesses striking antimetastatic effects. However, the lack of highly efficient organ-compatible carriers restricts its application. In the present study, we showed that extracellular microparticles encapsulated with DATS (DATS-MPs) were capable of interfering with the prometastatic inflammatory microenvironment in local tissues. DATS-MPs were successfully prepared and exhibited typical characteristics of B16BL6-derived extracellular vesicles. The DATS-MPs preferentially fused with cancer cells and endogenous cells (mouse lung epithelial MLE-12 cells) from the metastatic organs in vitro. More interestingly, the systemically administered MPs predominantly accumulated in the lung tissue that serves as their main metastatic organ. The drug-loaded MPs exerted higher antimetastatic effects than DATS alone in both the spontaneous and the experimental metastasis models in mice (*p < 0.05). Additionally, we found that DATS-MPs inhibited tumor cell migration and interfered with the prometastatic inflammatory microenvironment via decreasing the release of S100A8/A9, serum amyloid A (SAA), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and inhibiting the expression of fibronectin, MRP8, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-Myd88 in the lung tissues. Collectively, DATS-MPs appeared to enhance the antimetastatic efficiency of DATS in animal models under study.

Complex Factors and Challenges that Affect the Pharmacology, Safety and Efficacy of Nanocarrier Drug Delivery Systems

Major developments in nanomedicines, such as nanoparticles (NPs), nanosomes, and conjugates, have revolutionized drug delivery capabilities over the past four decades. Although nanocarrier agents provide numerous advantages (e.g., greater solubility and duration of systemic exposure) compared to their small-molecule counterparts, there is considerable inter-patient variability seen in the systemic disposition, tumor delivery and overall pharmacological effects (i.e., anti-tumor efficacy and unwanted toxicity) of NP agents. This review aims to provide a summary of fundamental factors that affect the disposition of NPs in the treatment of cancer and why they should be evaluated during preclinical and clinical development. Furthermore, this chapter will highlight some of the translational challenges associated with elements of NPs and how these issues can only be addressed by detailed and novel pharmacology studies.

The fibrotic microenvironment promotes the metastatic seeding of tumor cells into the lungs via mediating the ZEB1-AS1/miR-200b-3p/ZEB1 signaling

Fibrotic microenvironment has been reported to have a pro-metastasis effect on tumor cells, but the mechanism remains unclear. The current study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism by which the fibrotic microenvironment affects tumor cells. A tumor metastasis model was established by injecting tumor cells containing GFP into mice with pulmonary fibrosis. Lung tissues and fibroblasts were harvested, and conditioned medium (CM) were collected from fibrotic lungs and fibroblasts. Hematoxylin & eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were used to detect pulmonary metastasis and FSP1 expression, respectively. Bioinformatics and dual-luciferase reporter assay proved that the target genes of ZEB1-AS1 and miR-200b-3p were miR-200b-3p and ZEB1, respectively. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expressions of GFP, ZEB1-AS1, and miR-200b-3p. Transwell assay, Annexin V/PI assay, and colorimetry were performed to examine the effects of CM, ZEB1-AS1, miR-200b-3p, and ZEB1 on cell invasion, apoptosis, and the activity level of caspase-3/-9. Pulmonary metastasis was promoted and the expressions of FSP1 and GFP were increased in mice with pulmonary fibrosis. CM enhanced the invasion and inhibited the apoptosis of tumor cells. SiZEB1-AS1 and siZEB1 inhibited the invasion and apoptosis of tumor cells, while miR-200b-3p inhibitor had the opposite effect of SiZEB1-AS1 and siZEB1, and further reversed the effect of siZEB1 on tumor cell invasion and apoptosis. SiZEB1-AS1 reversed the effects of both miR-200b-3p inhibitor and miR-200b-3p inhibitor+siZEB1 on tumor cell invasion and apoptosis. Fibrotic microenvironment promoted the metastatic seeding of tumor cells into the lungs via mediating the ZEB1-AS1/miR-200b-3p/ZEB1 signaling.