Lactoferrin/phenylboronic acid-functionalized hyaluronic acid nanogels loading doxorubicin hydrochloride for targeting glioma

Current Non-Metal Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutic Approaches for Glioblastoma Treatment

The increase in the variety of nano-based tools offers new possibilities to approach the therapy of poorly treatable tumors, which includes glioblastoma multiforme (GBM; a primary brain tumor). The available nanocomplexes exhibit great potential as vehicles for the targeted delivery of anti-GBM compounds, including chemotherapeutics, nucleic acids, and inhibitors. The main advantages of nanoparticles (NPs) include improved drug stability, increased penetration of the blood-brain barrier, and better precision of tumor targeting. Importantly, alongside their drug-delivery ability, NPs may also present theranostic properties, including applications for targeted imaging or photothermal therapy of malignant brain cells. The available NPs can be classified into two categories according to their core, which can be metal or non-metal based. Among non-metal NPs, the most studied in regard to GBM treatment are exosomes, liposomes, cubosomes, polymeric NPs, micelles, dendrimers, nanogels, carbon nanotubes, and silica- and selenium-based NPs. They are characterized by satisfactory stability and biocompatibility, limited toxicity, and high accumulation in the targeted tumor tissue. Moreover, they can be easily functionalized for the improved delivery of their cargo to GBM cells. Therefore, the non-metal NPs discussed here, offer a promising approach to improving the treatment outcomes of aggressive GBM tumors.

Progress of nanoparticle drug delivery system for the treatment of glioma

Gliomas are typical malignant brain tumours affecting a wide population worldwide. Operation, as the common treatment for gliomas, is always accompanied by postoperative drug chemotherapy, but cannot cure patients. The main challenges are chemotherapeutic drugs have low blood-brain barrier passage rate and a lot of serious adverse effects, meanwhile, they have difficulty targeting glioma issues. Nowadays, the emergence of nanoparticles (NPs) drug delivery systems (NDDS) has provided a new promising approach for the treatment of gliomas owing to their excellent biodegradability, high stability, good biocompatibility, low toxicity, and minimal adverse effects. Herein, we reviewed the types and delivery mechanisms of NPs currently used in gliomas, including passive and active brain targeting drug delivery. In particular, we primarily focused on various hopeful types of NPs (such as liposome, chitosan, ferritin, graphene oxide, silica nanoparticle, nanogel, neutrophil, and adeno-associated virus), and discussed their advantages, disadvantages, and progress in preclinical trials. Moreover, we outlined the clinical trials of NPs applied in gliomas. According to this review, we provide an outlook of the prospects of NDDS for treating gliomas and summarise some methods that can enhance the targeting specificity and safety of NPs, like surface modification and conjugating ligands and peptides. Although there are still some limitations of these NPs, NDDS will offer the potential for curing glioma patients.

Biosurfactant-amphiphilized hyaluronic acid: A dual self-assembly anticancer nanoconjugate and drug vector for synergistic chemotherapy

Novel amphiphilic nanoconjugates of hyaluronic acid (HA), 50 kDa (HA50) and 100 kDa (HA100), and the lipopeptide biosurfactant surfactin (SF) were developed for potential anticancer applications. Physicochemical characterization indicated the formation of an ester conjugate (HA: SF molar ratio 1: 40) with the HA50-SF derivative exhibiting higher degree of substitution, hydrolytic stability, and surface activity. Self-assembly resulted in nanomicelles with smaller size and greater negative charge relative to SF micelles. Biological data demonstrated distinct anticancer activity of HA50-SF which displayed greater synergistic cytotoxicity and selectivity for MDA-MB 231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells alongside greater modulation of apoptosis-related biomarkers leading to apoptosis. As bioactive vector for chemotherapeutic agents, the selected HA50-SF nanoconjugate efficiently (70 %) entrapped berberine (BER) producing a sustained release BER-HA50-SF synergistic anticancer nanoformulation. Lactoferrin (Lf) coating for dual HA/Lf targeting endowed Lf/BER-HA50-SF with significantly greater selectivity for both cell lines. A murine Ehrlich breast cancer model provided evidence for the efficacy and safety of Lf/BER-HA50-SF via tumoral, histological, immunohistochemical, molecular and systemic toxicity assessments. Thus, HA-SF nanoconjugates integrating the HA and SF properties and biofunctionalties present a novel biopolymer-biosurfactant platform of benefit to oncology nanomedicine and possibly other applications.

Glycan-based scaffolds and nanoparticles as drug delivery system in cancer therapy

Glycan-based scaffolds are unique in their high specificity, versatility, low immunogenicity, and ability to mimic natural carbohydrates, making them attractive candidates for use in cancer treatment. These scaffolds are made up of glycans, which are biopolymers with well biocompatibility in the human body that can be used for drug delivery. The versatility of glycan-based scaffolds allows for the modulation of drug activity and targeted delivery to specific cells or tissues, which increases the potency of drugs and reduces side effects. Despite their promise, there are still technical challenges in the design and production of glycan-based scaffolds, as well as limitations in their therapeutic efficacy and specificity.

Brain Delivery of Biomimetic Phosphorus Dendrimer/Antibody Nanocomplexes for Enhanced Glioma Immunotherapy via Immune Modulation of T Cells and Natural Killer Cells

Fully mobilizing the activities of multiple immune cells is crucial to achieve the desired tumor immunotherapeutic efficacy yet still remains challenging. Herein, we report a nanomedicine formulation based on phosphorus dendrimer (termed AK128)/programmed cell death protein 1 antibody (aPD1) nanocomplexes (NCs) that are camouflaged with M1-type macrophage cell membranes (M1m) for enhanced immunotherapy of orthotopic glioma. The constructed AK128-aPD1@M1m NCs with a mean particle size of 160.3 nm possess good stability and cytocompatibility. By virtue of the decorated M1m having α4 and β1 integrins, the NCs are able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier to codeliver both AK128 with intrinsic immunomodulatory activity and aPD1 to the orthotopic glioma with prolonged blood circulation time. We show that the phosphorus dendrimer AK128 can boost natural killer (NK) cell proliferation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, while the delivered aPD1 enables immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) to restore the cytotoxic T cells and NK cells, thus promoting tumor cell apoptosis and simultaneously decreasing the tumor distribution of regulatory T cells vastly for improved glioma immunotherapy. The developed nanomedicine formulation with a simple composition achieves multiple modulations of immune cells by utilizing the immunomodulatory activity of nanocarrier and antibody-mediated ICB therapy, providing an effective strategy for cancer immunotherapy.

Biopolymeric Nanogel as a Drug Delivery System for Doxorubicin-Improved Drug Stability and Enhanced Antineoplastic Activity in Skin Cancer Cells

In this study, doxorubicin was loaded in a chitosan-albumin nanogel with the aim of improving its stability and exploring the potential of the system in the treatment of skin cancer. Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed the encapsulation of the drug. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the spherical shape of the nanogel particles. The drug-loaded nanogel was characterized with a small diameter of 29 nm, narrow polydispersity (0.223) and positive zeta potential (+34 mV). The exposure of encapsulated doxorubicin to light (including UV irradiation and daylight) did not provoke any degradation, whereas the nonencapsulated drug was significantly degraded. In vitro studies on keratinocytes (HaCaT) and epidermoid squamous skin carcinoma cells (A-431) disclosed that the encapsulated doxorubicin was more cytotoxic on both cell lines than the pure drug was. More importantly, the cytotoxic concentration of encapsulated doxorubicin in carcinoma cells was approximately two times lower than that in keratinocytes, indicating that it would not affect them. Thus, the loading of doxorubicin into the developed chitosan-albumin nanogel definitely stabilized the drug against photodegradation and increased its antineoplastic effect on the skin cancer cell line.

Self-driven bioactive hybrids co-deliver doxorubicin and indocyanine green nanoparticles for chemo/photothermal therapy of breast cancer

Breast cancer is characterized by insidious onset, rapid progression, easy recurrence, and metastasis. Conventional monotherapies are usually ineffective due to insufficient drug delivery. Therefore, the combination of multimodal therapy with tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive nanoplatforms is increasingly being considered for the targeted treatment of breast cancer. We synthesized bioactive hybrid nanoparticles for synergistic chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. Briefly, doxorubicin (DOX) and indocyanine green (ICG)-loaded nanoparticles (DI) of average particle size 113.58 ± 2.14 nm were synthesized, and their surface were modified with polydopamine (PDA) and attached to the anaerobic probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis (Bif). The bioactive Bif@DIP hybrid showed good photothermal conversion efficiency of about 38.04%. In addition, the self-driving ability of Bif allowed targeted delivery of the PDA-coated DI nanoparticles (DIP) to the hypoxic regions of the tumor. The low pH and high GSH levels in the TME stimulated the controlled release of DOX and ICG from the Bif@DIP hybrid, which then triggered apoptosis of tumor cells and induced immunogenic cell death (ICD), resulting in effective and sustained anti-tumor effect with minimum systemic toxicity. Thus, the self-driven Bif@DIP hybrid is a promising nanodrug for the targeted chemotherapy and photothermal therapy against solid cancers.

Hyaluronic Acid Nanogels: A Promising Platform for Therapeutic and Theranostic Applications

Hyaluronic acid (HA) nanogels are a versatile class of nanomaterials with specific properties, such as biocompatibility, hygroscopicity, and biodegradability. HA nanogels exhibit excellent colloidal stability and high encapsulation capacity, making them promising tools for a wide range of biomedical applications. HA nanogels can be fabricated using various methods, including polyelectrolyte complexation, self-assembly, and chemical crosslinking. The fabrication parameters can be tailored to control the physicochemical properties of HA nanogels, such as size, shape, surface charge, and porosity, enabling the rational design of HA nanogels for specific applications. Stimulus-responsive nanogels are a type of HA nanogels that can respond to external stimuli, such as pH, temperature, enzyme, and redox potential. This property allows the controlled release of encapsulated therapeutic agents in response to specific physiological conditions. HA nanogels can be engineered to encapsulate a variety of therapeutic agents, such as conventional drugs, genes, and proteins. They can then be delivered to target tissues with high efficiency. HA nanogels are still under development, but they have the potential to become powerful tools for a wide range of theranostic or solely therapeutic applications, including anticancer therapy, gene therapy, drug delivery, and bioimaging.

Smart stimuli-responsive polysaccharide nanohydrogels for drug delivery: a review

Polysaccharides have found extensive utilization as biomaterials in drug delivery systems owing to their remarkable biocompatibility, simple functionalization, and inherent biological properties. Within the array of polysaccharide-based biomaterials, there is a growing fascination for self-assembled polysaccharide nanogels (NG) due to their ease of preparation and enhanced appeal across diverse biomedical appliances. Nanogel (or nanohydrogel), networks of nanoscale dimensions, are created by physically or chemically linking polymers together and have garnered immense interest as potential carriers for delivering drugs due to their favorable attributes. These include biocompatibility, high stability, the ability to adjust particle size, the capacity to load drugs, and their inherent potential to modify their surface to actively target specific cells or tissues via the attachment of ligands that can recognize corresponding receptors. Nanogels can be engineered to respond to specific stimuli, such as pH, temperature, light, or redox conditions, allowing controlled release of the encapsulated drugs. This intelligent targeting capability helps prevent drug accumulation in unintended tissues and reduces the potential side effects. Herein, an overview of nanogels is offered, comprising their methods of preparation and the design of stimulus-responsive nanogels that enable controlled release of drugs in response to specific stimuli.

Preparation and usage of nanomaterials in biomedicine

Nanotechnology is one of the most promising and decisive technologies in the world. Nanomaterials, as the primary research aspect of nanotechnology, are quite different from macroscopic materials because of their unique optical, electrical, magnetic, thermal properties, and more robust mechanical properties, which make them play an essential role in the field of materials science, biomedical field, aerospace field, and environmental energy. Different preparation methods for nanomaterials have various physical and chemical properties and are widely used in different areas. In this review, we focused on the preparation methods, including chemical, physical, and biological methods due to the properties of nanomaterials. We mainly clarified the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of different preparation methods. Then, we focused on the applications of nanomaterials in biomedicine, including biological detection, tumor diagnosis, and disease treatment, which provide a development trend and promising prospects for nanomaterials.

Functionalized nanoparticles crossing the brain-blood barrier to target glioma cells

Glioma is the most common tumor of the central nervous system (CNS), with a 5-year survival rate of <35%. Drug therapy, such as chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents, remains one of the main treatment modalities for glioma, including temozolomide, doxorubicin, bortezomib, cabazitaxel, dihydroartemisinin, immune checkpoint inhibitors, as well as other approaches such as siRNA, ferroptosis induction, etc. However, the filter function of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) reduces the amount of drugs needed to effectively target CNS tumors, making it one of the main reasons for poor drug efficacies in glioma. Thus, finding a suitable drug delivery platform that can cross the BBB, increase drug aggregation and retainment in tumoral areas and avoid accumulation in non-targeted areas remains an unsolved challenge in glioma drug therapy. An ideal drug delivery system for glioma therapy should have the following features: (1) prolonged drug life in circulation and effective penetration through the BBB; (2) adequate accumulation within the tumor (3) controlled-drug release modulation; (4) good clearance from the body without significant toxicity and immunogenicity, etc. In this regard, due to their unique structural features, nanocarriers can effectively span the BBB and target glioma cells through surface functionalization, providing a new and effective strategy for drug delivery. In this article, we discuss the characteristics and pathways of different nanocarriers for crossing the BBB and targeting glioma by listing different materials for drug delivery platforms, including lipid materials, polymers, nanocrystals, inorganic nanomaterials, etc.

How to Develop Drug Delivery System Based on Carbohydrate Nanoparticles Targeted to Brain Tumors

Brain tumors are the most difficult to treat, not only because of the variety of their forms and the small number of effective chemotherapeutic agents capable of suppressing tumor cells, but also limited by poor drug transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nanoparticles are promising drug delivery solutions promoted by the expansion of nanotechnology, emerging in the creation and practical use of materials in the range from 1 to 500 nm. Carbohydrate-based nanoparticles is a unique platform for active molecular transport and targeted drug delivery, providing biocompatibility, biodegradability, and a reduction in toxic side effects. However, the design and fabrication of biopolymer colloidal nanomaterials have been and remain highly challenging to date. Our review is devoted to the description of carbohydrate nanoparticle synthesis and modification, with a brief overview of the biological and promising clinical outcomes. We also expect this manuscript to highlight the great potential of carbohydrate nanocarriers for drug delivery and targeted treatment of gliomas of various grades and glioblastomas, as the most aggressive of brain tumors.

Incorporation of Resveratrol in Polymeric Nanogel for Improvement of Its Protective Effects on Cellular and Microsomal Oxidative Stress Models

Nanogels are attractive drug delivery systems that provide high loading capacity for drug molecules, improve their stability, and increase cellular uptake. Natural antioxidants, especially polyphenols such as resveratrol, are distinguished by low aqueous solubility, which hinders therapeutic activity. Thus, in the present study, resveratrol was incorporated into nanogel particles, aiming to improve its protective effects in vitro. The nanogel was prepared from natural substances via esterification of citric acid and pentane-1,2,5-triol. High encapsulation efficiency (94.5%) was achieved by applying the solvent evaporation method. Dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the resveratrol-loaded nanogel particles were spherical in shape with nanoscopic dimensions (220 nm). In vitro release tests showed that a complete release of resveratrol was achieved for 24 h, whereas at the same time the non-encapsulated drug was poorly dissolved. The protective effect of the encapsulated resveratrol against oxidative stress in fibroblast and neuroblastoma cells was significantly stronger compared to the non-encapsulated drug. Similarly, the protection in a model of iron/ascorbic acid-induced lipid peroxidation on rat liver and brain microsomes was higher with the encapsulated resveratrol. In conclusion, embedding resveratrol in this newly developed nanogel improved its biopharmaceutical properties and protective effects in oxidative stress models.

Double-Loaded Doxorubicin/Resveratrol Polymeric Micelles Providing Low Toxicity on Cardiac Cells and Enhanced Cytotoxicity on Lymphoma Cells

The anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin is a well-known antitumour agent, however its cardiotoxicity is a significant obstacle to therapy. The aim of the present study was to improve the safety of doxorubicin through its simultaneous encapsulation with a cardioprotective agent (resveratrol) in Pluronic micelles. The formation and double-loading of the micelles was performed via the film hydration method. Infrared spectroscopy proved the successful incorporation of both drugs. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that resveratrol was loaded in the core, whereas doxorubicin was included in the shell. The double-loaded micelles were characterised by a small diameter (26 nm) and narrow size distribution, which is beneficial for enhanced permeability and retention effects. The in vitro dissolution tests showed that the release of doxorubicin depended on the pH of the medium and was faster than that of resveratrol. In vitro studies on cardioblasts showed the opportunity to reduce the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin through the presence of resveratrol in double-loaded micelles. Higher cardioprotection was observed when the cells were treated with the double-loaded micelles compared with referent solutions with equal concentrations of both drugs. In parallel, treatments of L5178 lymphoma cells with the double-loaded micelles revealed that the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin was enhanced. Thus, the study demonstrated that the simultaneous delivery of doxorubicin and resveratrol via the micellar system enabled the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin in lymphoma cells and lowered its cardiotoxicity in cardiac cells.

A Comprehensive Review on Nanomedicine: Promising Approach for Treatment of Brain Tumor through Intranasal Administration

Brain tumors have become one of the deadliest cancers; however, their treatment is still limited by conventional approaches. Brain tumors, among other CNS diseases, are the most lethal form of cancer due to ineffective diagnosis and profiling. The major limiting factor in treating brain tumors is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and the required therapeutic concentration is not achieved. Hence, most drugs are prescribed at higher doses, which have several unwanted side effects. Nanotechnology has emerged as an interesting and promising new approach for treating neurological disorders, including brain tumors, with the potential to overcome concerns related to traditional therapeutic approaches. Moreover, biomimetic nanomaterials have been introduced to successfully cross the blood-brain barrier and be consumed by deep skin cancer for imaging brain tumors using multimodal functional nanostructures for more specific and reliable medical assessment. These nanomedicines can address several challenges by enhancing the bioavailability of therapeutics through controlled pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Further nasal drug delivery has been considered as an alternative approach for the brain's targeting for the treatment of several CNS diseases. A drug can be directly delivered to the brain by bypassing the BBB through intranasal administration. This review discusses intranasal nanomedicine-based therapies for brain tumor targeting, which can be explored from different perspectives.

Hypoxia-ameliorated photothermal manganese dioxide nanoplatform for reversing doxorubicin resistance

Drug resistance is a huge hurdle in tumor therapy. Tumor hypoxia contributes to chemotherapy resistance by inducing the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) pathway. To reduce tumor hypoxia, novel approaches have been devised, providing significant importance to reverse therapeutic resistance and improve the effectiveness of antitumor therapies. Herein, the nanosystem of bovine serum albumin (BSA)-templated manganese dioxide (MnO₂) nanoparticles (BSA/MnO₂ NPs) loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) (DOX-BSA/MnO₂ NPs) developed in our previous report was further explored for their physicochemical properties and capacity to reverse DOX resistance because of their excellent photothermal and tumor microenvironment (TME) response effects. The DOX-BSA/MnO₂ NPs showed good biocompatibility and hemocompatibility. Meanwhile, DOX-BSA/MnO₂ NPs could greatly affect DOX pharmacokinetic properties, with prolonged circulation time and reduced cardiotoxicity, besides enhancing accumulation at tumor sites. DOX-BSA/MnO₂ NPs can interact with H₂O₂ and H⁺ in TME to form oxygen and exhibit excellent photothermal effect to further alleviate hypoxia due to MnO₂, reversing DOX resistance by down-regulating HIF-1α expression and significantly improving the antitumor efficiency in DOX-resistant human breast carcinoma cell line (MCF-7/ADR) tumor model. The hypoxia-ameliorated photothermal MnO₂ platform is a promising strategy for revering DOX resistance.

Nanocarrier-Based Drug Delivery to Brain: Interventions of Surface Modification

Brain disorders are a prevalent and rapidly growing problem in the medical field as they adversely affect the quality of life of a human. With an increase in life expectancy, it has been reported that diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke and brain tumors, along with neuropsychological disorders, are also being reported at an alarmingly high rate. Despite various therapeutic methods for treating brain disorders, drug delivery to the brain has been challenging because of a very complex Blood Brain Barrier, which precludes most drugs from entering the brain in effective concentrations. Nano-carrier-based drug delivery systems have been reported widely by researchers to overcome this barrier layer. These systems due to their small size, offer numerous advantages; however, their short residence time in the body owing to opsonization hinders their success in vivo. This review article focuses on the various aspects of modifying the surfaces of these nano-carriers with polymers, surfactants, protein, antibodies, cell-penetrating peptides, integrin binding peptides and glycoproteins such as transferrin & lactoferrin leading to enhanced residence time, desirable characteristics such as the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), increased bioavailability in regions of the brain and targeted drug delivery.

Current perspectives and trend of nanomedicine in cancer: A review and bibliometric analysis

The limitations of traditional cancer treatments are driving the creation and development of new nanomedicines. At present, with the rapid increase of research on nanomedicine in the field of cancer, there is a lack of intuitive analysis of the development trend, main authors and research hotspots of nanomedicine in the field of cancer, as well as detailed elaboration of possible research hotspots. In this review, data collected from the Web of Science Core Collection database between January 1st, 2000, and December 31st, 2021, were subjected to a bibliometric analysis. The co-authorship, co-citation, and co-occurrence of countries, institutions, authors, literature, and keywords in this subject were examined using VOSviewer, Citespace, and a well-known online bibliometrics platform. We collected 19,654 published papers, China produced the most publications (36.654%, 7204), followed by the United States (29.594%, 5777), and India (7.780%, 1529). An interesting fact is that, despite China having more publications than the United States, the United States still dominates this field, having the highest H-index and the most citations. Acs Nano, Nano Letters, and Biomaterials are the top three academic publications that publish articles on nanomedicine for cancer out of a total of 7580 academic journals. The most significant increases were shown for the keywords "cancer nanomedicine", "tumor microenvironment", "nanoparticles", "prodrug", "targeted nanomedicine", "combination", and "cancer immunotherapy" indicating the promising area of research. Meanwhile, the development prospects and challenges of nanomedicine in cancer are also discussed and provided some solutions to the major obstacles.

Functionalized Moringa oleifera Gum as pH-Responsive Nanogel for Doxorubicin Delivery: Synthesis, Kinetic Modelling and In Vitro Cytotoxicity Study

Environment-responsive-cum-site-specific delivery of therapeutic drugs into tumor cells is a foremost challenge for chemotherapy. In the present work, Moringa oleifera gum-based pH-responsive nanogel (MOGN) was functionalized as a doxorubicin (DOX) carrier. It was synthesized via free radical polymerization through the γ-irradiation method using acrylamide and N,N'-MBA followed by hydrolysis, sonication, and ultracentrifugation. The swelling behavior of MOGN as a function of pH was assessed using a gravimetric method that revealed its superabsorbent nature (365.0 g/g). Furthermore, MOGN showed a very high loading efficiency (98.35 %L) of DOX by MOGN. In vitro release studies revealed that DOX release from DOX-loaded MOGN was 91.92% at pH 5.5 and 12.18% at 7.4 pH, thus favorable to the tumor environment. The drug release from nanogel followed Korsmeyer-Peppas model at pH 5.5 and 6.8 and the Higuchi model at pH 7.4. Later, the efficient DOX release at the tumor site was also investigated by cytotoxicity study using Rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Thus, the synthesized nanogel having high drug loading capacity and excellent pH-triggered disintegration and DOX release performance in a simulated tumor environment could be a promising candidate drug delivery system for the targeted and controlled release of anticancer drugs.

Hyaluronic Acid Scaffolds for Loco-Regional Therapy in Nervous System Related Disorders

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a Glycosaminoglycan made of disaccharide units containing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and glucuronic acid. Its molecular mass can reach 10 MDa and its physiological properties depend on its polymeric property, polyelectrolyte feature and viscous nature. HA is a ubiquitous compound found in almost all biological tissues and fluids. So far, HA grades are produced by biotechnology processes, while in the human organism it is a major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in brain tissue, synovial fluid, vitreous humor, cartilage and skin. Indeed, HA is capable of forming hydrogels, polymer crosslinked networks that are very hygroscopic. Based on these considerations, we propose an overview of HA-based scaffolds developed for brain cancer treatment, central and peripheral nervous systems, discuss their relevance and identify the most successful developed systems.

Nanogels as Novel Nanocarrier Systems for Efficient Delivery of CNS Therapeutics

Nanogels have come out as a great potential drug delivery platform due to its prominently high colloidal stability, high drug loading, core-shell structure, good permeation property and can be responsive to environmental stimuli. Such nanoscopic drug carriers have more excellent abilities over conventional nanomaterials for permeating to brain parenchyma in vitro and in vivo. Nanogel-based system can be nanoengineered to bypass physiological barriers via non-invasive treatment, rendering it a most suitable platform for the management of neurological conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders, brain tumors, epilepsy and ischemic stroke, etc. Therapeutics of central nervous system (CNS) diseases have shown marked limited site-specific delivery of CNS by the poor access of various drugs into the brain, due to the presences of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). Hence, the availability of therapeutics delivery strategies is considered as one of the most major challenges facing the treatment of CNS diseases. The primary objective of this review is to elaborate the newer advances of nanogel for CNS drugs delivery, discuss the early preclinical success in the field of nanogel technology and highlight different insights on its potential neurotoxicity.

An update on dual targeting strategy for cancer treatment

The key issue in the treatment of solid tumors is the lack of efficient strategies for the targeted delivery and accumulation of therapeutic cargoes in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Targeting approaches are designed for more efficient delivery of therapeutic agents to cancer cells while minimizing drug toxicity to normal cells and off-targeting effects, while maximizing the eradication of cancer cells. The highly complicated interrelationship between the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles, and the physiological and pathological barriers that are required to cross, dictates the need for the success of targeting strategies. Dual targeting is an approach that uses both purely biological strategies and physicochemical responsive smart delivery strategies to increase the accumulation of nanoparticles within the TME and improve targeting efficiency towards cancer cells. In both approaches, either one single ligand is used for targeting a single receptor on different cells, or two different ligands for targeting two different receptors on the same or different cells. Smart delivery strategies are able to respond to triggers that are typical of specific disease sites, such as pH, certain specific enzymes, or redox conditions. These strategies are expected to lead to more precise targeting and better accumulation of nano-therapeutics. This review describes the classification and principles of dual targeting approaches and critically reviews the efficiency of dual targeting strategies, and the rationale behind the choice of ligands. We focus on new approaches for smart drug delivery in which synthetic and/or biological moieties are attached to nanoparticles by TME-specific responsive linkers and advanced camouflaged nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles as Physically- and Biochemically-Tuned Drug Formulations for Cancers Therapy

Simple Summary

Conventional antitumor drugs have limitations, including poor water solubility and lack of targeting capability, with consequent non-specific distribution, systemic toxicity, and low therapeutic index. Nanotechnology promises to overcome these drawbacks by exploiting the physical properties of diverse nanocarriers that can be linked to moieties with binding selectivity for cancer cells. The use of nanoparticles as therapeutic formulations allows a targeted delivery and a slow, controlled release of the drug(s), making them tunable modules for applications in precision medicine. In addition, nanoparticles are also being developed as cancer vaccines, offering an opportunity to increase both cellular and humoral immunity, thus providing a new weapon to beat cancer.

Abstract

Malignant tumors originate from a combination of genetic alterations, which induce activation of oncogenes and inactivation of oncosuppressor genes, ultimately resulting in uncontrolled growth and neoplastic transformation. Chemotherapy prevents the abnormal proliferation of cancer cells, but it also affects the entire cellular network in the human body with heavy side effects. For this reason, the ultimate aim of cancer therapy remains to selectively kill cancer cells while sparing their normal counterparts. Nanoparticle formulations have the potential to achieve this aim by providing optimized drug delivery to a pathological site with minimal accumulation in healthy tissues. In this review, we will first describe the characteristics of recently developed nanoparticles and how their physical properties and targeting functionalization are exploited depending on their therapeutic payload, route of delivery, and tumor type. Second, we will analyze how nanoparticles can overcome multidrug resistance based on their ability to combine different therapies and targeting moieties within a single formulation. Finally, we will discuss how the implementation of these strategies has led to the generation of nanoparticle-based cancer vaccines as cutting-edge instruments for cancer immunotherapy.

Review on design strategies and considerations of polysaccharide-based smart drug delivery systems for cancer therapy

The unique natural advantages of polysaccharide materials have attracted attention in biomedical applications. The abundant modifiable functional groups on the polysaccharide materials surface can facilitate the synthesis of various multifunctional drug delivery carriers. Especially in tumor therapy, the designs of polysaccharide-based drug delivery carriers are diverse. Therefore, this review summarized several latest types of polysaccharide-based drug carriers designs, and focused on the latest design strategies and considerations of drug carriers with polysaccharides as the main structure. It is expected to provide some design ideas and inspiration for subsequent polysaccharide-based drug delivery systems.

Gather wisdom to overcome barriers: Well-designed nano-drug delivery systems for treating gliomas

Due to the special physiological and pathological characteristics of gliomas, most therapeutic drugs are prevented from entering the brain. To improve the poor prognosis of existing therapies, researchers have been continuously developing non-invasive methods to overcome barriers to gliomas therapy. Although these strategies can be used clinically to overcome the blood‒brain barrier (BBB), the accurate delivery of drugs to the glioma lesions cannot be ensured. Nano-drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been widely used for precise drug delivery. In recent years, researchers have gathered their wisdom to overcome barriers, so many well-designed NDDS have performed prominently in preclinical studies. These meticulous designs mainly include cascade passing through BBB and targeting to glioma lesions, drug release in response to the glioma microenvironment, biomimetic delivery systems based on endogenous cells/extracellular vesicles/protein, and carriers created according to the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines. We reviewed these well-designed NDDS in detail. Furthermore, we discussed the current ongoing and completed clinical trials of NDDS for gliomas therapy, and analyzed the challenges and trends faced by clinical translation of these well-designed NDDS.

Current Advances of Polysaccharide-Based Nanogels and Microgels in Food and Biomedical Sciences

Polysaccharides are natural polymers with hydrophilic, biocompatible and biodegradable characteristics and have many opportunities in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. This review focuses on the field of nano and microstructures whose internal structure is based on networked polysaccharide chains in 3D i.e., polysaccharide nanogels (NGs) and microgels (MGs). As it is observed the number of articles on NGs and MGs in peer reviewed scientific journals has been increasing over the last two decades. At the same time, the relative contribution of polysaccharides in this field is gaining place. This review focuses on the different applied methods for the fabrication of a variety of polysaccharide-based NGs and MGs and aims to highlight the recent advances on the subject and present their potentials and properties with regards to their integration in aspects of medicinal and food sciences. The presentation of the recent advances in the application of polysaccharide NGs and MGs is divided in materials with potential as emulsion stabilizers and materials with potential as carriers of bioactives. For applications in the medical sector the division is based on the fabrication processes and includes self-assembled, electrostatically complexed/ionically crosslinked and chemically crosslinked NGs and MGs. It is concluded that many advances are expected in the application of these polysaccharide-based materials and in particular as nutrient-loaded emulsion stabilizers, viscosity modifiers and co-assembled structures in combination with proteins.

Nanoscale Drug Delivery Systems in Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive cerebral tumor in adults. However, the current pharmaceuticals in GBM treatment are mainly restricted to few chemotherapeutic drugs and have limited efficacy. Therefore, various nanoscale biomaterials that possess distinct structure and unique property were constructed as vehicles to precisely deliver molecules with potential therapeutic effect. In this review, nanoparticle drug delivery systems including CNTs, GBNs, C-dots, MOFs, Liposomes, MSNs, GNPs, PMs, Dendrimers and Nanogel were exemplified. The advantages and disadvantages of these nanoparticles in GBM treatment were illustrated.

Laser-triggered combination therapy by iron sulfide-doxorubicin@functionalized nanozymes for breast cancer therapy

Background

The use of magnetic nanozymes (NZs) with the ability to synchronize gas therapy through photodynamic and chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer has received much attention.

Results

Hence, in this study, we designed a bovine lactoferrin-coated iron sulfide NZs containing doxorubicin (abbreviated as: FeS-Dox@bLf NZs) by wet-chemical synthesis method. Then, the physicochemical characteristics of synthesized NZs were explored by several methods. Also, the level of Fe²⁺, H₂S and Dox releases from FeS-Dox@Lf NZs. Also, the cytotoxic effects of FeS-Dox@Lf NZs were investigated by cellular assays. After intravenous injections of NZs and laser irradiation, significant effects of FeS-Dox@Lf NZs on mice weight and tumor status were observed. Afterwards, not only the distribution of Dox in the body was examined by fluorescent, but also the time of Fe clearance and the amount of Dox and Fe retention in vital tissues were determined. The findings confirm that FeS-Dox@Lf NZs, in addition to targeted drug distribution in tumor tissue, resulted in superior therapeutic performance compared to free Dox due to reduced Dox side effects in vital tissues, and increased level of free radicals in 4T1 cells.

Conclusion

Overall, FeS-Dox@Lf NZs with the ability to synchronize chemotherapy and gas therapy raised hopes for more effective treatment of breast cancer.

Graphic abstract

Lactoferrin may inhibit the development of cancer via its immunostimulatory and immunomodulatory activities (Review)

Lactoferrin (Lf) is secreted by ectodermal tissue and has a structure similar to that of transferrin. Although Lf seems to be multifunctional, its main function is related to the natural defense system of mammals. The present review aims to highlight the major actions of Lf, including the regulation of cell growth, the inhibition of toxic compound formation, the removal of harmful free radicals and its important role in immune response regulation. Moreover, Lf has antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer and anti‑inflammatory activities. In addition, the use of Lf for functionalization of drug nanocarriers, with emphasis on tumor‑targeted drug delivery, is illustrated. Such effects serve as an important theoretical basis for its future development and application. In neurodegenerative diseases and the brains of elderly people, Lf expression is markedly upregulated. Lf may exert an anti‑inflammatory effect by inhibiting the formation of hydroxyl free radicals. Through its antioxidant properties, Lf can prevent DNA damage, thereby preventing tumor formation in the central nervous system. In addition, Lf specifically activates the p53 tumor suppressor gene.

Importance of Bioactive Substances in Sheep's Milk in Human Health

Sheep's milk is an important source of bioactive substances that have health-promoting functions for the body. The valuable composition of sheep's milk is due to the high content of fatty acids, immunoglobulins, proteins, hormones, vitamins and minerals. Many biopeptides found in milk have antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. The bioactive substances of sheep's milk also show anticancer properties. Sheep's milk, thanks to its content of CLA and orotic acid, prevents the occurrence of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Sheep's milk, as a product rich in bioactive substances, can be used as a medical aid to support the body in the fight against neurological and cancer diseases.

Microfluidic synthesis of chitosan-coated magnetic alginate microparticles for controlled and sustained drug delivery

The present work aimed to assemble a simple, portable and economical L-junction microfluidic device to realize the adjustment and tunability of homogeneous round-shaped particles synthesis. In this study, we synthesize two kind of microparticles, including magnetic alginate microparticles (MAM) and chitosan-coated magnetic alginate (CMAM) used for controlling the drug release under a mild condition. Comparing to the traditional method, the MAM synthesized via this microfluidic approach has uniform size distribution, adjustable diameter as well as tunable magnetism. By exploring the amoxicillin as model drug, the MAM displays excellent pH-sensitive release, the effect of particle size on the drug release rate was investigated as well. The results show the smaller particles (220 μm) show a faster release rate than the bigger materials (1000 μm) due to their larger specific area, providing more frequency to interact with the reaction solution. The positive polyelectrolyte, chitosan, coated on the magnetic alginate surface endows CMAM time extension in drug release by two times, successfully achieving drug controlled and sustained release via the kinetics analysis. In summary, this microfluidic approach provides a convenient and efficient fluidic design for the well-controlled synthesis of micro-and nanoscale particles, which is a potential choice used for controlled and sustained drug release.

Nanogels Capable of Triggered Release

This chapter provides an overview of soft and environmentally sensitive polymeric nanosystems, which are widely known as nanogels. These particles keep great promise to the area of drug delivery due to their high biocompatibility with body fluids and tissues, as well as due to their ability to encapsulate and release the loaded drugs in a controlled manner. For a long period of time, the controlled drug delivery systems were designed to provide long-termed or sustained release. However, some medical treatments such as cancer chemotherapy, protein and gene delivery do not require the prolonged release of the drug in the site of action. In contrast, the rapid increase of the drug concentration is needed for gaining the desired biological effect. Being very sensitive to surrounding media and different stimuli, nanogels can undergo physico-chemical transitions or chemical changes in their structure. Such changes can result in more rapid release of the drugs, which is usually referred to as triggered drug release. Herein we give the basic information on nanogel unique features, methods of sensitive nanogels preparation, as well as on main mechanisms of triggered release. Additionally, the triggered release of low-molecular drugs and biomacromolecules are discussed.