Hierarchical bioresponsive nanocarriers for codelivery of curcumin and doxorubicin

Environmental stimulus-responsive mesoporous silica nanoparticles as anticancer drug delivery platforms

Currently, cancer poses a significant health challenge in the medical community. Traditional chemotherapeutic agents are often accompanied by toxic side effects and limited therapeutic efficacy, restricting their application and advancement in cancer treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing intelligent drug release systems. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have many advantages, such as a large specific surface area, substantial pore volume and size, adjustable mesoporous material pore size, excellent biocompatibility, and thermodynamic stability, making them ideal carriers for drug delivery and release. Additionally, they have been widely used to develop novel anticancer drug carriers. Recently, MSNs have been employed to design responsive systems that react to the tumor microenvironment and external stimuli for controlled release of anticancer drugs. This includes factors within the intratumor environment, such as pH, temperature, enzymes, and glutathione as well as external tumor stimuli, such as light, magnetic field, and ultrasound, among others. In this review, we discuss the research progress on environmental stimulus-responsive MSNs in anticancer drug delivery systems, including internal and external environment single stimulus-responsive release and combined stimulus-responsive release. We also summarize the current challenges associated with environmental stimulus-responsive MSNs and elucidate future directions, providing a reference for the functionalization modification and practical application of these MSNs.

Multi-stimuli-responsive Hydrogels for Therapeutic Systems: An Overview on Emerging Materials, Devices, and Drugs

The rising interest in hydrogels nowadays is due to their usefulness in physiological conditions as multi-stimuli-responsive hydrogels. To reply to the prearranged stimuli, including chemical triggers, light, magnetic field, electric field, ionic strength, temperature, pH, and glucose levels, dual/multi-stimuli-sensitive gels/hydrogels display controllable variations in mechanical characteristics and swelling. Recent attention has focused on injectable hydrogel-based drug delivery systems (DDS) because of its promise to offer regulated, controlled, and targeted medication release to the tumor site. These technologies have great potential to improve treatment outcomes and lessen side effects from prolonged chemotherapy exposure.

Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG)-Based Hydrogels for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy: A Comprehensive Review

Hydrogel-based drug delivery systems (DDSs) can leverage therapeutically beneficial outcomes in cancer therapy. In this domain, polyethylene glycol (PEG) has become increasingly popular as a biomedical polymer and has found clinical use. Owing to their excellent biocompatibility, facile modifiability, and high drug encapsulation rate, PEG hydrogels have shown great promise as drug delivery platforms. Here, the progress in emerging novel designs of PEG-hydrogels as DDSs for anti-cancer therapy is reviewed and discussed, focusing on underpinning multiscale release mechanisms categorized under stimuli-responsive and non-responsive drug release. The responsive drug delivery approaches are discussed, and the underpinning release mechanisms are elucidated, covering the systems functioning based on either exogenous stimuli-response, such as photo- and magnetic-sensitive PEG hydrogels, or endogenous stimuli-response, such as enzyme-, pH-, reduction-, and temperature-sensitive PEG hydrogels. Special attention is paid to the commercial potential of PEG-based hydrogels in cancer therapy, highlighting the limitations that need to be addressed in future research for their clinical translation.

Dual-drug codelivery nanosystems: An emerging approach for overcoming cancer multidrug resistance

Multidrug resistance (MDR) promotes tumor recurrence and metastasis and heavily reduces anticancer efficiency, which has become a primary reason for the failure of clinical chemotherapy. The mechanisms of MDR are so complex that conventional chemotherapy usually fails to achieve an ideal therapeutic effect and even accelerates the occurrence of MDR. In contrast, the combination of chemotherapy with dual-drug has significant advantages in tumor therapy. A novel dual-drug codelivery nanosystem, which combines dual-drug administration with nanotechnology, can overcome the application limitation of free drugs. Both the characteristics of nanoparticles and the synergistic effect of dual drugs contribute to circumventing various drug-resistant mechanisms in tumor cells. Therefore, developing dual-drug codelivery nanosystems with different multidrug-resistant mechanisms has an important reference value for reversing MDR and enhancing the clinical antitumor effect. In this review, the advantages, principles, and common codelivery nanocarriers in the application of dual-drug codelivery systems are summarized. The molecular mechanisms of MDR and the dual-drug codelivery nanosystems designed based on different mechanisms are mainly introduced. Meanwhile, the development prospects and challenges of codelivery nanosystems are also discussed, which provide guidelines to exploit optimized combined chemotherapy strategies in the future.

Nano-drug co-delivery system of natural active ingredients and chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment: a review

Chemotherapy drugs have been used for a long time in the treatment of cancer, but serious side effects are caused by the inability of the drug to be solely delivered to the tumor when treating cancer with chemotherapy. Natural products have attracted more and more attention due to the antitumor effect in multiple ways, abundant resources and less side effects. Therefore, the combination of natural active ingredients and chemotherapy drugs may be an effective antitumor strategy, which can inhibit the growth of tumor and multidrug resistance, reduce side effects of chemotherapy drugs. Nano-drug co-delivery system (NDCDS) can play an important role in the combination of natural active ingredients and chemotherapy drugs. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the research status and application prospect of nano-delivery strategies for the combination of natural active ingredients and chemotherapy drugs, aiming to provide a basis for the development of anti-tumor drugs.

Opportunities and challenges for co-delivery nanomedicines based on combination of phytochemicals with chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer treatment

The therapeutic limitations such as insufficient efficacy, drug resistance, metastasis, and undesirable side effects are frequently caused by the long duration monotherapy based on chemotherapeutic drugs. multiple combinational anticancer strategies such as nucleic acids combined with chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic combinations, chemotherapy and tumor immunotherapy combinations have been embraced, holding great promise to counter these limitations, while still taking including some potential risks. Nowadays, an increasing number of research has manifested the anticancer effects of phytochemicals mediated by modulating cancer cellular events directly as well as the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, these natural compounds exhibited suppression of cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of cancer cells, P-glycoprotein inhibition, decreasing vascularization and activation of tumor immunosuppression. Due to the low toxicity and multiple modulation pathways of these phytochemicals, the combination of chemotherapeutic agents with natural compounds acts as a novel approach to cancer therapy to increase the efficiency of cancer treatments as well as reduce the adverse consequences. In order to achieve the maximized combination advantages of small-molecule chemotherapeutic drugs and natural compounds, a variety of functional nano-scaled drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, host-guest supramolecules, supramolecules, dendrimers, micelles and inorganic systems have been developed for dual/multiple drug co-delivery. These co-delivery nanomedicines can improve pharmacokinetic behavior, tumor accumulation capacity, and achieve tumor site-targeting delivery. In that way, the improved antitumor effects through multiple-target therapy and reduced side effects by decreasing dose can be implemented. Here, we present the synergistic anticancer outcomes and the related mechanisms of the combination of phytochemicals with small-molecule anticancer drugs. We also focus on illustrating the design concept, and action mechanisms of nanosystems with co-delivery of drugs to synergistically improve anticancer efficacy. In addition, the challenges and prospects of how these insights can be translated into clinical benefits are discussed.

Delivery of Natural Agents by Means of Mesoporous Silica Nanospheres as a Promising Anticancer Strategy

Natural prodrugs derived from different natural origins (e.g., medicinal plants, microbes, animals) have a long history in traditional medicine. They exhibit a broad range of pharmacological activities, including anticancer effects in vitro and in vivo. They have potential as safe, cost-effective treatments with few side effects, but are lacking in solubility, bioavailability, specific targeting and have short half-lives. These are barriers to clinical application. Nanomedicine has the potential to offer solutions to circumvent these limitations and allow the use of natural pro-drugs in cancer therapy. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) of various morphology have attracted considerable attention in the search for targeted drug delivery systems. MSNs are characterized by chemical stability, easy synthesis and functionalization, large surface area, tunable pore sizes and volumes, good biocompatibility, controlled drug release under different conditions, and high drug-loading capacity, enabling multifunctional purposes. In vivo pre-clinical evaluations, a significant majority of results indicate the safety profile of MSNs if they are synthesized in an optimized way. Here, we present an overview of synthesis methods, possible surface functionalization, cellular uptake, biodistribution, toxicity, loading strategies, delivery designs with controlled release, and cancer targeting and discuss the future of anticancer nanotechnology-based natural prodrug delivery systems.

Polychemotherapy with Curcumin and Doxorubicin via Biological Nanoplatforms: Enhancing Antitumor Activity

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a well-known chemotherapeutic agent extensively applied in the field of cancer therapy. However, similar to other chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, etoposide and oxaliplatin, cancer cells are able to obtain chemoresistance that limits DOX efficacy. In respect to dose-dependent side effect of DOX, enhancing its dosage is not recommended for effective cancer chemotherapy. Therefore, different strategies have been considered for reversing DOX resistance and diminishing its side effects. Phytochemical are potential candidates in this case due to their great pharmacological activities. Curcumin is a potential antitumor phytochemical isolated from Curcuma longa with capacity of suppressing cancer metastasis and proliferation and affecting molecular pathways. Experiments have demonstrated the potential of curcumin for inhibiting chemoresistance by downregulating oncogene pathways such as MMP-2, TGF-β, EMT, PI3K/Akt, NF-κB and AP-1. Furthermore, coadministration of curcumin and DOX potentiates apoptosis induction in cancer cells. In light of this, nanoplatforms have been employed for codelivery of curcumin and DOX. This results in promoting the bioavailability and internalization of the aforementioned active compounds in cancer cells and, consequently, enhancing their antitumor activity. Noteworthy, curcumin has been applied for reducing adverse effects of DOX on normal cells and tissues via reducing inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. The current review highlights the anticancer mechanism, side effects and codelivery of curcumin and DOX via nanovehicles.

Targeting Delivery Nanocarriers for (+)-Terrein to Enhance Its Anticancer Effects

As a compound from marine fungi, (+)-terrein showed significant anticancer activity. In this study, (+)-terrein was extracted from the marine-derived fungus and showed significant cytotoxicity against cancer cells, especially in A549 cells. To enhance its anticancer effects, redox-responsive nanocarriers based on folic acid-chitosan decorating the mesoporous silica nanoparticles were designed to control (+)-terrein target delivery into cancer cells. (+)-Terrein was loaded in the holes, and folic acid-chitosan worked as a gatekeeper by disulfide linkage controlling (+)-terrein release in the tumor microenvironment. The (+)-terrein drug delivery systems exhibited cytotoxicity toward A549 cells through induction of apoptosis. The apoptosis effect was confirmed by the increase in the expression of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9, and PARP. Taken together, this work evaluates for the first time the (+)-terrein delivery system and provides a promising nanomedicine platform for (+)-terrein.

Advances and trends of hydrogel therapy platform in localized tumor treatment: A review

Due to limitations of treatment and the stubbornness of infiltrative tumor cells, the outcome of conventional antitumor treatment is often compromised by a variety of factors, including severe side effects, unexpected recurrence, and massive tissue loss during the treatment. Hydrogel-based therapy is becoming a promising option of cancer treatment, because of its controllability, biocompatibility, high drug loading, prolonged drug release, and specific stimuli-sensitivity. Hydrogel-based therapy has good malleability and can reach some areas that cannot be easily touched by surgeons. Furthermore, hydrogel can be used not only as a carrier for tumor treatment agents, but also as a scaffold for tissue repair. In this review, we presented the latest researches in hydrogel applications of localized tumor therapy and highlighted the recent progress of hydrogel-based therapy in preventing postoperative tumor recurrence and improving tissue repair, thus proposing a new trend of hydrogel-based technology in localized tumor therapy. And this review aims to provide a novel reference and inspire thoughts for a more accurate and individualized cancer treatment.

Molecular level investigation of curcumin self-assembly induced by trigonelline and nanoparticle formation

Nanoparticle-facilitated drug delivery forms the core of medicine nowadays with the drug being delivered right at the target, reducing side effects and enhancing therapeutic value. Nanoparticles derived from natural compounds are further a point of focus being biocompatible and safe by and large. In this study, we have performed HF/6-31G calculations coupled with intermolecular interaction calculations and nanoscale molecular dynamics simulations to investigate self-assemblage in curcumin induced by trigonelline. Similar to recently reported self-assemblage in curcumin induced by sugar, trigonelline, a natural antidiabetic derived from fenugreek, can also induce auto-catalyzed self-assemblage in curcumin to form nanoparticles. It has been shown that these nanoparticles may be utilized for the delivery of drugs with severe side effects especially for diabetic patients with triple benefit of being antidiabetic, biocompatible and safe. As an example, carriage of antidiabetic drug pioglitazone and anticancer drug taxol have been depicted utilizing nanoparticles of curcumin and trigonelline. Twenty five taxol molecules could be comfortably carried in a 50 nm nanoparticle with an average overall root mean square deviation of 2.89 Å with reference to initial positions. For the first time, this study shows the possibility of developing antidiabetic nanoparticles with plethora of opportunities for diabetic patients. The study is expected to motivate experimental verification and has a long lasting impact in medicinal chemistry.

Mitochondrial targeting nano-curcumin for attenuation on PKM2 and FASN

Tumor cells are sensitive to the disturbance of mitochondrial functions. Attenuation of dysfunctional mitochondria by natural compounds is an emerging strategy for the recovery of abnormal energy metabolism of cancer. To develop a nano-sized curcumin (CUR) in attenuating the energy metabolism of cancer cells, herein, a coral-shaped nano-transporter DNA-FeS₂-DA nanoparticle was synthesized using double-stranded DNA rich in 'GAG' and 'GC' series as a template and poly-dopamine as an adhesive. CUR was successfully loaded to DNA-FeS₂-DA with a molar ratio of ssDNA: CUR of 1:16, forming CUR@DNA-FeS₂-DA. This nano-curcumin can readily enter mitochondrion in MCF-7 cancer cells. The CUR@DNA-FeS₂-DA nanocomposite displays desirable photothermal effect and stability, while its CUR can be released gradually in the weak acid environment. The expression of both pyruvate kinase M2 and fatty acid synthase in the MCF-7 cancer cells were noticeably inhibited by CUR@DNA-FeS₂-DA. Given the controlled release and mitochondria-targeting properties, this CUR@DNA-FeS₂-DA nanocomposite is a promising new drug entity for intervening the energy metabolism of cancer cells.