Novel sulfonamide porphyrin TBPoS-2OH used in photodynamic therapy for malignant melanoma

Novel sulfonyl-substituted tetrandrine derivatives for colon cancer treatment by inducing mitochondrial apoptosis and inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Tetrandrine (TET) possesses multiple pharmacological activities and could suppress tumor proliferation via PI3K pathway inhibition. However, inferior antitumor activity and potential toxicity limit its clinical application. In the present study, a series of 14-sulfonamide and sulfonate TET derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for biological activities. Through structural-activity relationship studies, compound 3c with α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group exhibited the most potent activity against all tested tumor cell lines (including Hela, HCT116, HepG2, MCF-7, and SHSY5Y), as well as negligible toxicity against normal cell lines LO2 and HEK293. Additionally, compound 3c effectively inhibited HCT116 and CT26 cell proliferation in vitro with increased cell proportion in the G2/M phase, activated the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, and induced colon cancer cell apoptosis by suppressing the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. The further molecular docking results confirmed that compound 3c is potentially bound to multiple residues in PI3K with a stronger binding affinity than TET. Ultimately, compound 3c dramatically suppressed tumor growth in the CT26 xenograft tumor model, without noticeable visceral toxicity detected in the high-dose group. In summary, compound 3c might present new insights for designing new PI3K inhibitors and be a potential candidate for colon cancer treatment.

Triterpenes and Pheophorbides from Camellia ptilosperma and Their Cytotoxicity, Photocytotoxicity, and Photodynamic Antibacterial Activity

Phytochemical investigation of the leaves of Camellia ptilosperma S. Y. Liang et Q. D. Chen led to the isolation of ten undescribed compounds, including six new triterpenes (1-6) and four new pheophorbide-related compounds (7-10). Meanwhile, the cytotoxic activity of the six triterpenes against six cancer cell lines was evaluated by MTT assay. Compound 2 showed potent cytotoxicity toward HepG2 cells with an IC50 value of 2.57 μM. Compounds 4 and 5 exhibited cytotoxicity against MDA-MB231 cells, with IC50 values of 11.31 and 5.52 μM, respectively. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of four new pheophorbides against these cancer cells was evaluated both in the presence and absence of light treatment. Compound 7 exhibited exceptional photocytotoxicity against Hela, MCF-7, and A549 cells, with IC50 values of 0.43 μM, 0.28 μM, and 0.92 μM, respectively. Compound 10 demonstrated significant photodynamic cytotoxic activity against BEL-7402 and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 0.77 μM and 0.33 μM, respectively. The photodynamic antibacterial activity of 7-10 was also tested for S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and P. aeruginosa under direct illumination. Compounds 8 and 10 exhibited sensitivity to E. coli and demonstrated a photodynamic antibacterial effect, with a MIC value of 0.625 μM.

Bruceine a exerts antitumor effect against colon cancer by accumulating ROS and suppressing PI3K/Akt pathway

Bruceine A (BA), a quassic ester from bruceine javanica, regulates diverse intracellular signal transduction pathways and manifests a variety of biological activities, however, its pharmacological mechanism in treating colon cancer (CC) is unclear. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effects of BA on CC cells and the underlying mechanisms. The network pharmacology research indicated that Akt1 and Jun and PI3K/Akt pathways are the predominant targets and critical signaling pathways, respectively, for BA treatment of CC. Meanwhile, molecular docking results implied that BA could conjugate to pivotal proteins in the PI3K/Akt pathway. BA remarkably suppressed the proliferation of CC cells HCT116 and CT26 with 48-h IC50 of 26.12 and 229.26 nM, respectively, and the expression of p-PI3K/p-Akt was restrained by BA at the molecular level as verified by Western blot assay. Further mechanistic studies revealed BA impacted cell cycle-related proteins by regulating the expression of P27 (a protein bridging the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway with cycle-related proteins), arresting the cell cycle in the G2 phase, inhibiting the proliferation of HCT116 and CT26, and facilitated the apoptosis in CC cells by activating the mitochondria-associated apoptosis protein Bax and accumulating reactive oxygen species, in addition to BA apparently inhibited the migration of CC cells. Taken together, our results demonstrated that BA might be a promising chemotherapy drug in the treatment of CC.

A Self-Reinforcing Nanoplatform for Highly Effective Synergistic Targeted Combinatary Calcium-Overload and Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

While calcium-overload-mediated therapy (COMT) is a promising but largely untapped therapeutic strategy, combinatory therapy greatly boosts treatment outcomes with integrated merits of different therapies. Herein, a BPQD@CaO₂ -PEG-GPC3Ab nanoplatform is formulated by integrating calcium peroxide (CaO₂ ) and black phosphorus quantum dot (BPQD, photosensitizer) with active-targeting glypican-3 antibody (GPC3Ab), for combinatory photodynamic therapy (PDT) and COMT in response to acidic pH and near-infrared (NIR) light, wherein CaO₂ serves as the reservoir of calcium ions (Ca²⁺ ) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ ). Navigated by GPC3Ab to tumor cells at acidic pH, the nanoparticle disassembles to CaO₂ and BPQD; CaO₂ produces COMT Ca²⁺ and H₂ O₂ , while H₂ O₂ makes oxygen (O₂ ) to promote PDT; under NIR irradiation BPQD facilitates not only the conversion of O₂ to singlet oxygen (¹ O₂ ) for PDT, but also moderate hyperthermia to accelerate NP dissociation to CaO₂ and BPQD, and conversions of CaO₂ to Ca²⁺ and H₂ O₂ , and H₂ O₂ to O₂ , to enhance both COMT and PDT. After supplementary ionomycin treatment to induce intracellular Ca²⁺ bursts, the multimodal therapeutics strikingly induce hepatocellular carcinoma apoptosis, likely through the activation of the calpains and caspases 12, 9, and 3, up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 proteins. This nanoplatform enables a mutually-amplifying and self-reinforcing synergistic therapy.

Coaxially electrospun 5-fluorouracil-loaded PLGA/PVP fibrous membrane for skin tumor treatment

As a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) has been widely used as a carrier to achieve controlled drug delivery in various forms. Focusing on skin tumor treatment, herein 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was embedded into the core of coaxially electrospun PLGA fibers to get a drug-loaded core-shell fibrous membrane. In the coaxial electrospinning, poly(vinylpyrrolidone) was applied in the inner flow to facilitate the formation of the core-shell structured fibers. The morphology and micro-structure of the fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The influences of the molecular weights and chemical compositions of PLGA copolymers on the release behaviors were studied. The cytotoxicity of the fibers was characterized by cell proliferation and living-dead cell staining experiments. The results showed that faster release rates would be obtained if the copolymers were of lower molecular weights and higher fraction of glycidyl unit. All the prepared 5-FU loaded fibrous membranes were non-cytotoxic, suggesting their potential applications in skin tumor treatment.

Multifunctional system for combined chemodynamic–photodynamic therapy employing the endothelin axis based on conjugated polymer nanoparticles

Most nanomedicines that attack tumors by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) based on lipid peroxidation mechanisms require external activation to work.