Polymeric prodrug for bio-controllable gene and drug co-delivery

Graphene Oxide Hosting a pH-Sensitive Prodrug: An In Silico Investigation of Graphene Oxide-Based Nanovehicle toward Cancer Therapy

Prodrug and drug delivery systems are two effective strategies for improving the selectivity of chemotherapeutics. Herein, via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and free energy calculation, the effectiveness of the graphene oxide (GO) decorated with the pH-sensitive prodrug (PD) molecules in cancer therapy is investigated. PEI-CA-DOX (prodrug) was loaded onto the GO surface, in which the hydrogen bonding and pi-pi stacking interactions play the main role in the stability of the GO-PD complex. Due to the strong interaction of GO and PD (about -800 kJ/mol), the GO-PD complex remains stable during the membrane penetration process. The obtained results confirm that GO is a suitable surface for hosting the prodrug and passing it through the membrane. Furthermore, the investigation of the release process shows that the PD can be released under acidic conditions. This phenomenon is due to the reduction of the contribution of electrostatic energy in the GO and PD interaction and the entry of water into the drug delivery system. Moreover, it is found that an external electrical field does not have much effect on drug release. Our results provide a deep understanding of the prodrug delivery systems, which helps the combination of nanocarriers and modified chemotherapy drugs in the future.

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a Polymer-Based Co-Delivery System for Breast Cancer Therapy

Cancer has become one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This disease is classified broadly by tissue, organ, and system; different cancer types and subtypes require different treatments. Drug bioavailability, selectivity, and high dosage, as well as extended treatment, are significantly associated with the development of resistance – a complex problem in cancer therapy. It is expected that the combination of anticancer drugs and drug delivery systems, using polymers to increase the access of such agents to their site of action, will improve the efficacy of therapy. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) is a polymer used as a co-delivery system for anticancer drugs and gene therapy. PEI is also useful for other purposes, such as transfection and bio-adsorbent agents. In co-delivery, PEI can promote drug internalization. However, PEI with a high molecular weight is linked to higher cytotoxicity, thus requiring further evaluation of clinical safety. This review focuses on the utilization of PEI as a co-delivery system for anticancer therapy, as well as its potential to overcome resistance, particularly in the treatment of specific subtypes (eg, breast cancer). In conclusion, PEI has promising applications and is improvable for the development of anticancer drugs.

Synergistic Anticancer Therapy by Ovalbumin Encapsulation-Enabled Tandem Reactive Oxygen Species Generation

The anticancer efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) is limited due to the hypoxic features of solid tumors. We report synergistic PDT/chemotherapy with integrated tandem Fenton reactions mediated by ovalbumin encapsulation for improved in vivo anticancer therapy via an enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation mechanism. O2.- produced by the PDT is converted to H2 O2 by superoxide dismutase, followed by the transformation of H2 O2 to the highly toxic . OH via Fenton reactions by Fe2+ originating from the dissolution of co-loaded Fe3 O4 nanoparticles. The PDT process further facilitates the endosomal/lysosomal escape of the active agents and enhances their intracellular delivery to the nucleus-even for drug-resistant cells. Cisplatin generates O2.- in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase and thereby improves the treatment efficiency by serving as an additional O2.- source for production of . OH radicals. Improved anticancer efficiency is achieved under both hypoxic and normoxic conditions.

PEGylated gene carriers in serum under shear flow

The behaviour of drug/gene carriers in the blood stream under shear is still a puzzle. In this work, using the complexes formed by 21 bp DNA and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(l-lysine) (PEG-PLL) of varying PEG lengths, we studied the dynamic behaviour of the complexes in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) and under flow at different shear rates, a condition mimicking the internal physical environment of blood vessels. The PEG5k-PLL/DNA complex possesses a dense DNA/PLL core and a loose PEG5k protecting layer. The PEGylated DNA complexes exhibit multiple responses to external shear in the presence of FBS. The loose PEG5k layer is firstly disturbed at a shear rate below 30 s-1. The exposure of the charged core to the environment results in a secondary aggregation of the complex with FBS. The size of the aggregate is limited to a certain range as the shear rate increases to 50 s-1. The dense DNA/PLL core starts to withstand the shear force as the shear rate reaches 500 s-1. The reorganization of the core to accommodate more serum molecules leads to tertiary aggregation of the complexes. If PEG cannot form a valid layer around the complex, as in PEG2k-PLL/DNA, the complex forms an aggregate even without shear, and the first shear dependent region is missing. If the PEG layer is too stable around the complex, as in PEG10k-PLL/DNA, no tertiary aggregation occurs. The mechanism of shear on the behaviour of delivery particles in serum helps to design gene carriers with high efficacy.

Polyethylenimine-based nanocarriers in co-delivery of drug and gene: a developing horizon

The meaning of gene therapy is the delivery of DNA or RNA to cells for the treatment or prevention of genetic disorders. The success rate of gene therapy depends on the progression and safe gene delivery system. The vectors available for gene therapy are divided into viral and non-viral systems. Viral vectors cause higher transmission efficiency and long gene expression, but they have major problems, such as immunogenicity, carcinogenicity, the inability to transfer large size genes and high costs. Non-viral gene transfer vectors have attracted more attention because they exhibit less toxicity and the ability to transfer large size genes. However, the clinical application of non-viral methods still faces some limitations, including low transmission efficiency and poor gene expression. In recent years, numerous methods and gene-carriers have been developed to improve gene transfer efficiency. The use of Polyethylenimine (PEI) based transfer of collaboration may create a new way of treating diseases and the combination of chemotherapy and gene therapy. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the PEI as an appropriate vector for the effective gene delivery.

Engineering a customized nanodrug delivery system at the cellular level for targeted cancer therapy

Drug administration customized to individual cells could intrinsically address cancer heterogeneity and provide a safe and effective method for delivering personalized treatment. To accomplish this, we developed a smart nanodrug delivery system characterized by cancer cell-targeted drug delivery and intracellular biomarker-responsive drug activation. This system was composed of a long-nicked DNA duplex formed by tandem hybridization of two extended antisense oligonucleotides whose ends were separately blocked with a cancer cell-specific aptamer, AS1411, and a replaceable anti-biomarker probe (ABP). We demonstrated that this DNA nanodrug was directed to cancer cells with the guidance power of AS1411 and then activated by the presence of a given intracellular biomarker. By using such a belt-and-braces strategy, this DNA nanodrug system could safely and efficiently accelerate apoptosis of target cancer cells. Moreover, since the expression level of biomarkers tends to indicate the specific physiological state of individual cells, biomarker-responsive activation of the nanodrug is expected to enable customized drug administration at the cellular level.