Aidi injection, a traditional Chinese medicine extract, reverses Gefitinib resistance in non-small cell lung cancer cells

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in cancer therapeutic resistance: Potential mechanisms and clinical implications

Cancer therapy resistance (CTR) is the development of cancer resistance to multiple therapeutic strategies, which severely affects clinical response and leads to cancer progression, recurrence, and metastasis. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been identified as the most common, abundant, and conserved internal transcriptional alterations of RNA modifications, regulating RNA splicing, translation, stabilization, degradation, and gene expression, and is involved in the development and progression of a variety of diseases, including cancer. Recent studies have shown that m6A modifications play a critical role in both cancer development and progression, especially in reversing CTR. Although m6A modifications have great potential in CTR, the specific molecular mechanisms are not fully elucidated. In this review, we summarize the potential molecular mechanisms of m6A modification in CTR. In addition, we update recent advances in natural products from Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) and small-molecule lead compounds targeting m6A modifications, and discuss the great potential and clinical implications of these inhibitors targeting m6A regulators and combinations with other therapies to improve clinical efficacy and overcome CTR.

Chitosan nanoparticles as a smart nanocarrier for gefitinib for tackling lung cancer: Design of experiment and in vitro cytotoxicity study

Due to its poor solubility and systemic side effects, gefitinib (Gef) has limited application in treatment of lung cancer. In this study, we used design of experiment (DOE) tools to gain the necessary knowledge for the synthesis of high-quality gefitinib loaded chitosan nanoparticles (Gef-CSNPs) capable of delivering and concentrating Gef at A549 cells, thereby increasing therapeutic effectiveness while decreasing adverse effects. The optimized Gef-CSNPs were characterized by SEM, TEM, DSC, XRD, and FTIR analyses. The optimized Gef-CSNPs had a particle size of 158±3.6 nm, an entrapment efficiency of 93±1.2 %, and a release of 97±0.6 % after 8 h. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the optimized Gef-CSNPs was found to be significantly higher than pure Gef (IC50 = 10.08 ± 0.76 μg/mL and IC50 = 21.65 ± 0.32 μg/mL), respectively. In the A549 human cell line, the optimized Gef-CSNPs formula outperformed pure Gef in terms of cellular uptake (3.286 ± 0.12 μg/mL and 1.777 ± 0.1 μg/mL) and apoptotic population (64.82 ± 1.25 % and 29.38 ± 1.11 %), respectively. These findings explain why researchers are so interested in using natural biopolymers to combat lung cancer, and they paint an optimistic picture of their potential as a promising tool in the fight against lung cancer.

Gefitinib-loaded starch nanoparticles for battling lung cancer: Optimization by full factorial design and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation

Lung cancer is the number one killer among all cancer types. For decades, clinicians have been using conventional chemotherapeutics, but they can't rely on them alone anymore, because they poison bad cells and good cells as well. Researchers exploited nanotechnology as a potential tool to develop a platform for drug delivery to improve therapeutic efficiency. A quality by design synthesis of gefitinib-loaded starch nanoparticles (Gef-StNPs) has emerged as an essential tool to study and optimize the factors included in their synthesis. Therefore, we applied design of experiment (DOE) tools to attain the essential knowledge for the synthesis of high-quality Gef-StNPs that can deliver and concentrate the gefitinib (Gef) at A549 cells, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy and minimizing adverse effects. The in vitro cytotoxicity after exposing the A549 human lung cancer cells to the optimized Gef-StNPs was found to be much higher than that of the pure Gef (IC₅₀ = 6.037 ± 0.24 and 21.65 ± 0.32 μg/mL, respectively). The optimized Gef-StNPs formula showed superiority over the pure Gef regarding the cellular uptake in A549 human cell line (3.976 ± 0.14 and 1.777 ± 0.1 μg/mL) and apoptotic population (77.14 ± 1.43 and 29.38 ± 1.11 %), respectively. The results elucidate why researchers have a voracious appetite for using natural biopolymers to combat lung cancer and paint an optimistic picture of their potential to be a promising tool in battling lung cancer.