Potential from synergistic effect of quercetin and paclitaxel co-encapsulated in the targeted folic-gelatin-pluronic P123 nanogels for chemotherapy

Enhanced anti-glioma activity of annonaceous acetogenins based on a novel liposomal co-delivery system with ginsenoside Rh2

Annonaceous acetogenins (ACGs) have potent anti-tumor activity, and the problems of their low solubility, hemolysis, and in vivo delivery have been solved by encapsulation into nanoparticles. However, the high toxicity still limits their application in clinic. In this paper, the co-delivery strategy was tried to enhance the in vivo anti-tumor efficacy and reduce the toxic effects of ACGs. Ginsenoside Rh2, a naturally derived biologically active compound, which was reported to have synergistic effect with paclitaxel, was selected to co-deliver with ACGs. And due to its similarity with cholesterol in chemical structure, the co-loading liposomes, (ACGs + Rh2)-Lipo, were successfully constructed using Rh2 instead of cholesterol as the membrane material. The obtained (ACGs + Rh2)-Lipo and ACGs-Lipo had similar mean particle size (about 80 nm), similar encapsulation efficiency (EE, about 97%) and good stability. The MTS assay indicated that (ACGs + Rh2)-Lipo had stronger toxicity in vitro. In the in vivo study, in contrast to ACGs-Lipo, (ACGs + Rh2)-Lipo demonstrated an improved tumor targetability (3.3-fold in relative tumor targeting index) and significantly enhanced the antitumor efficacy (tumor inhibition rate, 72.9 ± 5.4% vs. 60.5 ± 5.4%, p < .05). The body weight change, liver index, and spleen index of tumor-bearing mice showed that Rh2 can attenuate the side effects of ACGs themselves. In conclusion, (ACGs + Rh2)-Lipo not only alleviated the toxicity of ACGs to the organism, but also enhanced their anti-tumor activity, which is expected to break through their bottleneck.

Construction and Evaluation of BAL-PTX Co-Loaded Lipid Nanosystem for Promoting the Anti-Lung Cancer Efficacy of Paclitaxel and Reducing the Toxicity of Chemotherapeutic Drugs

Purpose

The present study aimed to develop a lipid nanoplatform, denoted as "BAL-PTX-LN", co-loaded with chiral baicalin derivatives (BAL) and paclitaxel (PTX) to promote the anti-lung cancer efficacy of paclitaxel and reduce the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Methods

BAL-PTX-LN was optimized through central composite design based on a single-factor experiments. BAL-PTX-LN was evaluated by TEM, particle size, encapsulation efficiency, hemolysis rate, release kinetics and stability. And was evaluated by pharmacokinetics and the antitumor efficacy studied both in vitro and in vivo. The in vivo safety profile of the formulation was assessed using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining.

Results

BAL-PTX-LN exhibited spherical morphology with a particle size of 134.36 ± 3.18 nm, PDI of 0.24 ± 0.02, and with an encapsulation efficiency exceeding 90%, BAL-PTX-LN remained stable after 180 days storage. In vitro release studies revealed a zero-order kinetic model of PTX from the liposomal formulation. No hemolysis was observed in the preparation group. Pharmacokinetic analysis of PTX in the BAL-PTX-LN group revealed an approximately three-fold higher bioavailability and twice longer t1/2 compared to the bulk drug group. Furthermore, the IC50 of BAL-PTX-LN decreased by 2.35 times (13.48 μg/mL vs 31.722 μg/mL) and the apoptosis rate increased by 1.82 times (29.38% vs 16.13%) at 24 h compared to the PTX group. In tumor-bearing nude mice, the BAL-PTX-LN formulation exhibited a two-fold higher tumor inhibition rate compared to the PTX group (62.83% vs 29.95%), accompanied by a ten-fold decrease in Ki67 expression (4.26% vs 45.88%). Interestingly, HE staining revealed no pathological changes in tissues from the BAL-PTX-LN group, whereas tissues from the PTX group exhibited pathological changes and tumor cell infiltration.

Conclusion

BAL-PTX-LN improves the therapeutic effect of poorly soluble chemotherapeutic drugs on lung cancer, which is anticipated to emerge as a viable therapeutic agent for lung cancer in clinical applications.

Innovative gelatin-based micelles with AS1411 aptamer targeting and reduction responsiveness for doxorubicin delivery in tumor therapy

Herein, we constructed innovative reduction-sensitive and targeted gelatin-based micelles for doxorubicin (DOX) delivery in tumor therapy. AS1411 aptamer-modified gelatin-ss-tocopherol succinate (AGSST) and the control GSST without AS1411 modification were synthesized and characterized. Antitumor drug DOX-containing AGSST (AGSST-D) and GSST-D nanoparticles were prepared, and their shapes were almost spherical. Reduction-responsive characteristics of DOX release in vitro were revealed in AGSST-D and GSST-D. Compared with non-targeted GSST-D, AGSST-D demonstrated better intracellular uptake and stronger cytotoxicity against nucleolin-overexpressed A549 cells. Importantly, AGSST-D micelles showed more effective killing activity in A549-bearing mice than GSST-D and DOX⋅HCl. It was revealed that AGSST-D micelles had no obvious systemic toxicity. Overall, AGSST micelles would have the potential to be an effective drug carrier for targeted tumor therapy.

Thermally-responsive and reduced glutathione-sensitive folate-targeted nanocarrier based on alginate and pluronic F127 for on-demand release of methotrexate

A specific rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-microenvironment-triggered nanocarrier for RA treatment of a first-line antirheumatic drug (Methotrexate, MTX) has been proposed. Reduced glutathione (GSH) responsivity, cystamine, was first introduced on the alginate backbone, which was then used as the bridge to connect pluronic F127 (temperature-responsive factor) and folic acid (targeting factor for active immune cells), resulting in dual-responsive triggered targeting carrier, PCAC-FA. In vitro study demonstrated that PCAC-FA was preferentially taken up by activated macrophage cells rather than normal ones, suggesting the targeting of PCAC-FA to inflamed tissue. The loading capacity of the designed carrier was 21.23 ± 0.91 %. MTX from the PCAC-FA carrier was significantly accelerated release in the presentation of glutathione or in cold shock condition, proposing the efficacy-controlled release. MTX@PCAC-FA showed excellent hemocompatibility, confirming a suitable application with parenteral administration. Notably, the acute and subacute toxicity in the mice model showed that the toxicity of MTX had significantly reduced after encapsulating in the PCAC-FA carrier. These nanoplatforms not only provide an alternative safe strategy for the clinical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with MTX but also deliver MTX selectively and provide on-demand drug release via external and internal signals, thus emerging as a promising therapeutic option for precise RA therapy.

Anticancer Effect by Combined Treatment of Artemisia annua L. Polyphenols and Docetaxel in DU145 Prostate Cancer Cells and HCT116 Colorectal Cancer Cells

Docetaxel (DTX), a semi-synthetic analogue of paclitaxel (taxol), is known to exert potent anticancer activity in various cancer cells by suppressing normal microtubule dynamics. In this study, we examined how the anticancer effect of DTX is regulated by polyphenols extracted from Korean Artemisia annua L. (pKAL) in DU145 prostate cancer cells (mutant p53) and HCT116 colorectal cancer cells (wild-type p53). Here, we show that the anticancer effect of DTX was enhanced more significantly by pKAL in HCT116 cells than in DU145 cells via phase-contrast microscopy, CCK-8 assay, Western blot, and flow cytometric analysis of annexin V/propidium iodide-stained cells. Notably, mutant p53 was slightly downregulated by single treatment of pKAL or DTX in DU145 cells, whereas wild-type p53 was significantly upregulated by pKAL or DTX in HCT116 cells. Moreover, the enhanced anticancer effect of DTX by pKAL in HCT116 cells was significantly associated with the suppression of DTX-induced p53 upregulation, increase of DTX-induced phospho-p38, and decrease of DTX-regulated cyclin A, cyclin B1, AKT, caspase-8, PARP1, GM130, NF-κB p65, and LDHA, leading to the increased apoptotic cell death and plasma membrane permeability. Our results suggest that pKAL could effectively improve the anticancer effect of DTX-containing chemotherapy used to treat various cancers expressing wild-type p53.