Screening of metabolites in the treatment of liver cancer xenografts HepG2/ADR by psoralen-loaded lipid nanoparticles

Liver cancer wars: plant-derived polyphenols strike back

Liver cancer currently represents the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The majority of liver cancer arises in the context of chronic inflammation and cirrhosis. Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy have been the guideline-recommended treatment options for decades. Despite enormous advances in the field of liver cancer therapy, an effective cure is yet to be found. Plant-derived polyphenols constitute a large family of phytochemicals, with pleiotropic effects and little toxicity. They can drive cellular events and modify multiple signaling pathways which involves initiation, progression and metastasis of liver cancer and play an important role in contributing to anti-liver cancer drug development. The potential of plant-derived polyphenols for treating liver cancer has gained attention from research clinicians and pharmaceutical scientists worldwide in the last decades. This review overviews hepatic carcinogenesis and briefly discusses anti-liver cancer mechanisms associated with plant-derived polyphenols, specifically involving cell proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, angiogenesis, oxidative stress, inflammation, and metastasis. We focus on plant-derived polyphenols with experiment-based chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic properties against liver cancer and generalize their basic molecular mechanisms of action. We also discuss potential opportunities and challenges in translating plant-derived polyphenols from preclinical success into clinical applications.

Research progress in nano-drug delivery systems based on the characteristics of the liver cancer microenvironment

The liver cancer has microenvironmental features such as low pH, M2 tumor-associated macrophage enrichment, low oxygen, rich blood supply and susceptibility to hematotropic metastasis, high chemokine expression, enzyme overexpression, high redox level, and strong immunosuppression, which not only promotes the progression of the disease, but also seriously affects the clinical effectiveness of traditional therapeutic approaches. However, nanotechnology, due to its unique advantages of size effect and functionalized modifiability, can be utilized to develop various responsive nano-drug delivery system (NDDS) by using these characteristic signals of the liver cancer microenvironment as a source of stimulation, which in turn can realize the intelligent release of the drug under the specific microenvironment, and significantly increase the concentration of the drug at the target site. Therefore, researchers have designed a series of stimuli-responsive NDDS based on the characteristics of the liver cancer microenvironment, such as hypoxia, weak acidity, and abnormal expression of proteases, and they have been widely investigated for improving anti-tumor therapeutic efficacy and reducing the related side effects. This paper provides a review of the current application and progress of NDDS developed based on the response and regulation of the microenvironment in the treatment of liver cancer, compares the effects of the microenvironment and the NDDS, and provides a reference for building more advanced NDDS.

Nanoaggregates of Biphilic Carboxyl-Containing Copolymers as Carriers for Ionically Bound Doxorubicin

Application of nanocarriers for drug delivery brings numerous advantages, allowing both minimization of side effects common in systemic drug delivery and improvement in targeting, which has made it the focal point of nanoscience for a number of years. While most of the studies are focused on encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs, delivery of hydrophilic compounds is typically performed via covalent attachment, which often requires chemical modification of the drug and limits the release kinetics. In this paper, we report synthesis of biphilic copolymers of various compositions capable of self-assembly in water with the formation of nanoparticles and suitable for ionic binding of the common anticancer drug doxorubicin. The copolymers are synthesized by radical copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and acrylic acid using n-octadecyl-mercaptan as a chain transfer agent. With an increase of the carboxyl group's share in the chain, the role of the electrostatic stabilization factor of the nanoparticles increased as well as the ability of doxorubicin as an ion binder. A mathematical description of the kinetics of doxorubicin binding and release is given and thermodynamic functions for the equilibrium ionic binding of doxorubicin are calculated.

Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Cancers From the Metabolomics Perspective

Gastrointestinal cancer (GIC), primarily including colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer, is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths with increasing prevalence and poor prognosis. Medicinal plants have been shown to be a great resource for the treatment of GIC. Due to their complex manifestations of multi-component and multi-target, the underlying mechanisms how they function against GIC remain to be completely deciphered. Cell metabolism is of primary importance in the initialization and development of GIC, which is reported to be a potential target. As an essential supplement to the newest “omics” sciences, metabolomics focuses on the systematic study of the small exogenous and endogenous metabolites involved in extensive biochemical metabolic pathways of living system. In good agreement with the systemic perspective of medicinal plants, metabolomics offers a new insight into the efficacy assessment and action mechanism investigation of medicinal plants as adjuvant therapeutics for GIC therapy. In this review, the metabolomics investigations on metabolism-targeting therapies for GIC in the recent 10 years were systematically reviewed from five aspects of carbohydrate, lipid, amino acid, and nucleotide metabolisms, as well as other altered metabolisms (microbial metabolism, inflammation, and oxidation), with particular attention to the potential of active compounds, extracts, and formulae from medicinal plants. Meanwhile, the current perspectives and future challenges of metabolism-targeting therapies of medicinal plants for GIC were also discussed. In conclusion, the understanding of the action mechanisms of medicinal plants in GIC from the metabolomics perspective will contribute to the clinical application of potential candidates from the resourceful medicinal plants as novel and efficient adjuvant therapeutics for GIC therapy.

Synthesis of Amphiphilic Copolymers of N-Vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and Allyl Glycidyl Ether for Co-Delivery of Doxorubicin and Paclitaxel

Co-delivery of chemotherapeutics in cancer treatment has been proven essential for overcoming multidrug resistance and improving the outcome of therapy. We report the synthesis of amphiphilic copolymers of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and allyl glycidyl ether of various compositions and demonstrate that they can form nanoaggregates capable of simultaneous covalent immobilization of doxorubicin by the epoxy groups in the shell and hydrophobic-driven incorporation of paclitaxel into the core of nanoparticles. The structure of the obtained copolymers was characterized by ¹³C NMR, IR, and MALDI spectroscopy, as well as adsorption at the water/toluene interface. A linear increase in the number-average molecular weight of amphiphilic copolymers and a decrease in the number-average diameter of macromolecular aggregates with an increase in the ratio N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone/allyl glycidyl ether were observed. The assembled nanocarriers were characterized by DLS. The reported novel nanocarriers can be of interest for delivery and co-delivery of a wide range of pharmacological preparations and combined therapy for cancer and other deceases.

OMICS Applications for Medicinal Plants in Gastrointestinal Cancers: Current Advancements and Future Perspectives

Gastrointestinal cancers refer to a group of deadly malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract and organs of the digestive system. Over the past decades, considerable amounts of medicinal plants have exhibited potent anticancer effects on different types of gastrointestinal cancers. OMICS, systems biology approaches covering genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, are broadly applied to comprehensively reflect the molecular profiles in mechanistic studies of medicinal plants. Single- and multi-OMICS approaches facilitate the unravelling of signalling interaction networks and key molecular targets of medicinal plants with anti-gastrointestinal cancer potential. Hence, this review summarizes the applications of various OMICS and advanced bioinformatics approaches in examining therapeutic targets, signalling pathways, and the tumour microenvironment in response to anticancer medicinal plants. Advances and prospects in this field are also discussed.