Synthesis and Characterization of Arsenic(III) Oxide Nanoparticles as Potent Inhibitors of MCF 7 Cell Proliferation through Proapoptotic Mechanism

Can arsenic do anything good? Arsenic nanodrugs in the fight against cancer - last decade review

Arsenic has been an element of great interest among scientists for many years as it is a widespread metalloid in our ecosystem. Arsenic is mostly recognized with negative connotations due to its toxicity. Surely, most of us know that a long time ago, arsenic trioxide was used in medicine to treat, mainly, skin diseases. However, not everyone knows about its very wide and promising use in the treatment of cancer. Initially, in the seventies, it was used to treat leukemia, but new technological possibilities and the development of nanotechnology have made it possible to use arsenic trioxide for the treatment of solid tumours. The most toxic arsenic compound - arsenic trioxide - as the basis of anticancer drugs in which they function as a component of nanoparticles is used in the fight against various types of cancer. This review aims to present the current solutions in various cancer treatment using arsenic compounds with different binding motifs and methods of preparation to create targeted nanoparticles, nanodiamonds, nanohybrids, nanodrugs, or nanovehicles.

Synthesized arsenic nanoparticles and their high potential in biomedical applications: A review

Arsenic with the scientific name AS is an element that exists everywhere. It is the fourth among the abundant elements in water, the twelfth in the human body, and the twentieth in the earth's crust. This element exists in sulfide, carbonate, and elemental forms. Different names of arsenic are known as white arsenic (As2O3), yellow arsenic (As2S3), and red arsenic (As4S4). Nowadays, due to its unique properties, arsenic has received much attention from researchers for use in the synthesis of arsenic nanoparticles. According to various studies, arsenic nanoparticles are synthesized by various methods, including biological, physical, and chemical, and it has been shown that the synthetic method used is very important because it has a significant effect on their shape, size, and biological function. Arsenic nanoparticles are among the nanoparticles that have attracted the attention of researchers due to their particle potential as well as their anticancer, antitumor, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial applications. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate arsenic nanoparticles biosynthesized by different physical, biological, and chemical methods and their biomedical applications.

Current Advances of Nanomedicines Delivering Arsenic Trioxide for Enhanced Tumor Therapy

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is one of the first-line chemotherapeutic drugs for acute promyelocytic leukemia. Its anti-cancer activities against various human neoplastic diseases have been extensively studied. However, the clinical use of ATO for solid tumors is limited, and these limitations are because of severe systemic toxicity, low bioavailability, and quick renal elimination before it reaches the target site. Although without much success, several efforts have been made to boost ATO bioavailability toward solid tumors without raising its dose. It has been found that nanomedicines have various advantages for drug delivery, including increased bioavailability, effectiveness, dose-response, targeting capabilities, and safety as compared to traditional drugs. Therefore, nanotechnology to deliver ATO to solid tumors is the main topic of this review, which outlines the previous and present medical applications of ATO. We also summarised ATO anti-cancer mechanisms, limitations, and outcomes of combinatorial treatment with chemo agents. As a result, we strongly recommend conducting pre-clinical and clinical studies of ATO, especially nano-system-based ones that might lead to a novel combination therapy for cancer treatment with high efficacy, bioavailability, and low toxicity for cancer patients.

Novel and efficient method for loading aptamer-conjugated liposomes with arsenic trioxide for targeting cancer cells

Although the therapeutic effect of liposomal arsenic trioxide arsenic trioxide (ATO) in the treatment of solid tumours has been confirmed, its dose-limiting loading is a challenging issue. To solve the problems in the preparation of liposomal ATO, different loading strategies were evaluated and compared. In addition, liposomes decorated with anti-nucleolin aptamers were developed as a novel formulation for targeted delivery with high loading efficiency and sustained releasing property in order to treat solid tumours. The liposomes were prepared by a thin-film method exploiting the passive loading strategy of Co(II) hydrogen arsenite (CHA). The structural characteristics of the liposomes were also investigated by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potentiometry, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction (EDX) techniques. To evaluate the potential cytotoxicity of this liposomal drug vehicle in vitro, MTT assay was performed on HT-29 cancer cell line. The results showed that the synthesised liposomes loaded with CHA exhibited high entrapment efficiency (77%). MTT assays showed a significant difference between the percentage of viable cells when HT -29 cells were treated with free ATO and liposomal formulation which can be corresponded to the sustained release of the drug from the liposomes. The results of this study may lead to a promising strategy for the effective treatment of solid tumours.

Iodide Analogs of Arsenoplatins-Potential Drug Candidates for Triple Negative Breast Cancers

Patients with triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs)—highly aggressive tumors that do not express estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor 2 receptors—have limited treatment options. Fewer than 30% of women with metastatic TNBC survive five years after their diagnosis, with a mortality rate within three months after a recurrence of 75%. Although TNBCs show a higher response to platinum therapy compared to other breast cancers, drug resistance remains a major obstacle; thus, platinum drugs with novel mechanisms are urgently needed. Arsenoplatins (APs) represent a novel class of anticancer agents designed to contain the pharmacophores of the two FDA approved drugs cisplatin and arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) as one molecular entity. Here, we present the syntheses, crystal structures, DFT calculations, and antiproliferative activity of iodide analogs of AP-1 and AP-2, i.e., AP-5 and AP-4, respectively. Antiproliferative studies in TNBC cell lines reveal that all AP family members are more potent than cisplatin and As₂O₃ alone. DFT calculations demonstrate there is a low energy barrier for hydrolysis of the platinum-halide bonds in arsenoplatins, possibly contributing to their higher cytotoxicities compared to cisplatin.

Elevated CO2 differently suppresses the arsenic oxide nanoparticles-induced stress in C3 (Hordeum vulgare) and C4 (Zea maize) plants via altered homeostasis in metabolites specifically proline and anthocyanin metabolism

Nano-sized arsenic oxide nanoparticles (As₂O₃-NP) limit crop growth and productivity. As₂O₃-NP represent a strong environmental hazard. The predicted rise in future atmospheric CO₂ could boost plant growth both under optimal and heavy metal stress conditions. So far, the phytotoxicity of As₂O₃-NP and their interaction with eCO₂ were not investigated at physiological and metabolic levels in crop species groups such as C3 and C4. We investigated how eCO₂ level (620 ppm) alleviated soil As₂O₃-NP toxicity induced growth and mitigated oxidative damages through analysing photosynthetic parameters, primary (sugars and amino acids) and secondary (phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanins) metabolism in C3 (barley) and C4 (maize) plants. Compared to maize, barley accumulated higher As₂O₃-NP level, which inhibited growth and induced oxidative damage particularly in barley (increased H₂O₂ and lipid peroxidation). Interestingly, eCO₂ differently mitigated As₂O₃-NP toxicity on photosynthesis, which consequently improved sugar metabolism. Moreover, high carbon availability in eCO₂ treated plants directed to produce osmo-protectant (soluble sugars and proline) and antioxidants (anthocyanins and tocopherols). In the line with increased proline and anthocyanins, their metabolism was also improved. Notable differences occurred between the two plant species. The ornithine pathway was preferred in maize while in barley proline accumulation was mainly through glutamate pathway. Moreover, under As₂O₃-NP stress, barley preferentially accumulated anthocyanins while maize accumulated total phenolics and flavonoids. This work contributes to improving our understanding of the differences in growth, physiological and biochemical responses of major crops of two functional photosynthetic groups (C3 and C4 plants) under ambient and elevated CO₂ grown under As₂O₃-NP stress.

Strategies for the Improvement of Metal-Based Chemotherapeutic Treatments

This article provides an overview of the various research approaches we have explored in recent years to improve metal-based agents for cancer or infection treatments. Although cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin remain the cornerstones in tumor chemotherapy, the discovery and approval of novel inorganic anticancer drugs is a very slow process. Analogously, although a few promising inorganic drugs have found clinical application against parasitic or bacterial infections, their use remains relatively limited. Moreover, the discovery process is often affected by small therapeutic enhancements that are not attractive for the pharmaceutical industry. However, the availability of increasing mechanistic information for the modes of action of established inorganic drugs is fueling the exploration of various approaches for developing effective inorganic chemotherapy agents. Through a series of examples, some from our own research experience, we focus our attention on a number of promising strategies, including (1) drug repurposing, (2) the simple modification of the chemical structures of approved metal-based drugs, (3) testing novel drug combinations, and (4) newly synthesized complexes coupling different anticancer drugs. Accordingly, we aim to suggest and summarize a series of reliable approaches that are exploitable for the development of improved and innovative treatments.