CCR2-targeted micelles for anti-cancer peptide delivery and immune stimulation

Decoding the role of the CCL2/CCR2 axis in Alzheimer's disease and innovating therapeutic approaches: Keeping All options open

Alzheimer's disease (AD), as a neurodegenerative disorder, distresses the elderly in large numbers and is characterized by β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation, elevated tau protein levels, and chronic inflammation. The brain's immune system is aided by microglia and astrocytes, which produce chemokines and cytokines. Nevertheless, dysregulated expression can cause hyperinflammation and lead to neurodegeneration. CCL2/CCR2 chemokines are implicated in neurodegenerative diseases exacerbating. Inflicting damage on nerves and central nervous system (CNS) cells is the function of this axis, which recruits and migrates immune cells, including monocytes and macrophages. It has been shown that targeting the CCL2/CCR2 axis may be a therapeutic option for inflammatory diseases. Using the current knowledge about the involvement of the CCL2/CCR2 axis in the immunopathogenesis of AD, this comprehensive review synthesizes existing information. It also explores potential therapeutic options, including modulation of the CCL2/CCR2 axis as a possible strategy in AD.

Pluronic-Based Nanoparticles for Delivery of Doxorubicin to the Tumor Microenvironment by Binding to Macrophages

The active targeting drug delivery system based on special types of endogenous cells such as macrophages has emerged as a promising strategy for tumor therapy, owing to its tumor homing property and biocompatibility. In this work, the active tumor-targeting drug delivery system carrying doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles (DOX@MPF127-MCP-1, DMPM) on macrophage (RAW264.7) surfaces via the mediation of interaction with the CCR2/MCP-1 axis was exploited. Initially, the amphiphilic block copolymer Pluronic F127 (PF127) was carboxylated to MPF127 at the hydroxyl terminus. Subsequently, MPF127 was modified with MCP-1 peptide to prepare MPF127-MCP-1 (MPM). The DOX was wrapped in MPM to form DMPM nanomicelles (approximately 100 nm) during the self-assembly process of MPM. The DMPM spontaneously bound to macrophages (RAW264.7), which resulted in the construction of an actively targeting delivery system (macrophage-DMPM, MA-DMPM) in vitro and in vivo. The DOX in MA-DMPM was released in the acidic tumor microenvironment (TME) in a pH-responsive manner to increase DOX accumulation and enhance the tumor treatment effect. The ratio of MA-DMPM homing reached 220% in vitro compared with the control group, indicating that the MA-DMPM was excellently capable of tumor-targeting delivery. In in vivo experiments, nonsmall cell lung cancer cell (NCI-H1299) tumor models were established. The results of the fluorescence imaging system (IVIS) showed that MA-DMPM demonstrated tremendous tumor-targeting ability in vivo. The antitumor effects of MA-DMPM in vivo indicated that the proportion of tumor cell apoptosis in the DMPM-treated group was 63.33%. The findings of the tumor-bearing mouse experiment proved that MA-DMPM significantly suppressed tumor cell growth, which confirmed its immense potential and promising applications in tumor therapy.

The role of CCL2/CCR2 axis in cancer and inflammation: The next frontier in nanomedicine

The communication between cells and their microenvironment represents an intrinsic and essential attribute that takes place in several biological processes, including tissue homeostasis and tissue repair. Among these interactions, inflammation is certainly a central biological response that occurs through cytokines and the crosstalk with their respective receptors. In particular, the interaction between CCL2 and its main receptor, CCR2, plays a pivotal role in both harmful and protective inflammatory states, including cancer-mediated inflammation. The activation of the CCL2/CCR2 axis was shown to dictate the migration of macrophages with immune-suppressive phenotype and to aggravate the progression of different cancer types. In addition, this interaction mediates metastasis formation, further limiting the potential therapeutic outcome of anti-cancer drugs. Attempts to inhibit pharmacologically the CCL2/CCR2 axis have yet to show its anti-cancer efficacy as a single agent, but it sheds light on its role as a powerful tool to selectively alleviate pro-tumorigenic and anti-repair inflammation. In this review, we will elucidate the role of CCL2/CCR2 axis in promoting cancer inflammation by activating the host pro-tumorigenic phenotype. Moreover, we will provide some insight into the potential therapeutic benefit of targeting the CCL2/CCR2 axis for cancer and inflammation using novel delivery systems, aiming to sensitize non-responders to currently approved immunotherapies and offer new combinatory approaches.

Investigation of Basolateral Targeting Micelles for Drug Delivery Applications in Polycystic Kidney Disease

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a complex disorder characterized by uncontrolled renal cyst growth, leading to kidney function decline. The multifaceted nature of ADPKD suggests that single-pathway interventions using individual small molecule drugs may not be optimally effective. As such, a strategy encompassing combination therapy that addresses multiple ADPKD-associated signaling pathways could offer synergistic therapeutic results. However, severe off-targeting side effects of small molecule drugs pose a major hurdle to their clinical transition. To address this, we identified four drug candidates from ADPKD clinical trials, bardoxolone methyl (Bar), octreotide (Oct), salsalate (Sal), and pravastatin (Pra), and incorporated them into peptide amphiphile micelles containing the RGD peptide (GRGDSP), which binds to the basolateral surface of renal tubules via integrin receptors on the extracellular matrix. We hypothesized that encapsulating drug combinations into RGD micelles would enable targeting to the basolateral side of renal tubules, which is the site of disease, via renal secretion, leading to superior therapeutic benefits compared to free drugs. To test this, we first evaluated the synergistic effect of drug combinations using the 20% inhibitory concentration for each drug (IC20) on renal proximal tubule cells derived from Pkd1flox/-:TSLargeT mice. Next, we synthesized and characterized the RGD micelles encapsulated with drug combinations and measured their in vitro therapeutic effects via a 3D PKD growth model. Upon both IV and IP injections in vivo, RGD micelles showed a significantly higher accumulation in the kidneys compared to NT micelles, and the renal access of RGD micelles was significantly reduced after the inhibition of renal secretion. Specifically, both Bar+Oct and Bar+Sal in the RGD micelle treatment showed enhanced therapeutic efficacy in ADPKD mice (Pkd1fl/fl;Pax8-rtTA;Tet-O-Cre) with a significantly lower KW/BW ratio and cyst index as compared to PBS and free drug-treated controls, while other combinations did not show a significant difference. Hence, we demonstrate that renal targeting through basolateral targeting micelles enhances the therapeutic potential of combination therapy in genetic kidney disease.

Current development of theragnostic nanoparticles for women's cancer treatment

In the biomedical industry, nanoparticles (NPs-exclusively small particles with size ranging from 1-100 nanometres) are recently employed as powerful tools due to their huge potential in sophisticated and enhanced cancer theragnostic (i.e. therapeutics and diagnostics). Cancer is a life-threatening disease caused by carcinogenic agents and mutation in cells, leading to uncontrolled cell growth and harming the body's normal functioning while affecting several factors like low levels of reactive oxygen species, hyperactive antiapoptotic mRNA expression, reduced proapoptotic mRNA expression, damaged DNA repair, and so on. NPs are extensively used in early cancer diagnosis and are functionalized to target receptors overexpressing cancer cells for effective cancer treatment. This review focuses explicitly on how NPs alone and combined with imaging techniques and advanced treatment techniques have been researched against 'women's cancer' such as breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer which are substantially occurring in women. NPs, in combination with numerous imaging techniques (like PET, SPECT, MRI, etc) have been widely explored for cancer imaging and understanding tumor characteristics. Moreover, NPs in combination with various advanced cancer therapeutics (like magnetic hyperthermia, pH responsiveness, photothermal therapy, etc), have been stated to be more targeted and effective therapeutic strategies with negligible side effects. Furthermore, this review will further help to improve treatment outcomes and patient quality of life based on the theragnostic application-based studies of NPs in women's cancer treatment.

Oral delivery of nanomedicine for genetic kidney disease

Chronic and genetic kidney diseases such as autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) have few therapeutic options, and clinical trials testing small molecule drugs have been unfavorable due to low kidney bioavailability and adverse side effects. Although nanoparticles can be designed to deliver drugs directly to the diseased site, there are no kidney-targeted nanomedicines clinically available, and most FDA-approved nanoparticles are administered intravenously which is not ideal for chronic diseases. To meet these challenges of chronic diseases, we developed a biomaterials-based strategy using chitosan particles (CP) for oral delivery of therapeutic, kidney-targeting peptide amphiphile micelles (KMs). We hypothesized that encapsuling KMs into CP would enhance the bioavailability of KMs upon oral administration given the high stability of chitosan in acidic conditions and mucoadhesive properties enabling absorption within the intestines. To test this, we evaluated the mechanism of KM access to the kidneys via intravital imaging and investigated the KM biodistribution in a porcine model. Next, we loaded KMs carrying the ADPKD drug metformin into CP (KM-CP-met) and measured in vitro therapeutic effect. Upon oral administration in vivo, KM-CP-met showed significantly greater bioavailability and accumulation in the kidneys as compared to KM only or free drug. As such, KM-CP-met treatment in ADPKD mice (Pkd1fl/fl;Pax8-rtTA;Tet-O-Cre which develops the disease over 120 days and mimics the slow development of ADPKD) showed enhanced therapeutic efficacy without affecting safety despite repeated treatment. Herein, we demonstrate the potential of KM-CP as a nanomedicine strategy for oral delivery for the long-term treatment of chronic kidney diseases.

New insights into the role of macrophages in cancer immunotherapy

Macrophages are the main component of the tumor microenvironment, which are differentiated from monocytes in the blood and play an important role in cancer development. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) can promote tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and resistance to anti-programmed death receptor 1 therapy by regulating programmed cell death ligand 1 expression and interacting with other immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. However, when activated properly, macrophages can also play an anti-tumor role by enhancing the phagocytosis and cytotoxicity of tumor cells. TAM is associated with poor prognosis and drug resistance in patients treated with immunotherapy, indicating that macrophages are attractive targets for combined therapy in cancer treatment. Combination of targeting TAMs and immunotherapy overcomes the drug resistance and achieved excellent results in some cancers, which may be a promising strategy for cancer treatment in the future. Herein, we review the recent findings on the role of macrophages in tumor development, metastasis, and immunotherapy. We focus mainly on macrophage≥centered therapy, including strategies to deplete and reprogram TAMs, which represent the potential targets for improving tumor immunotherapy efficacy.

Development and challenges of antimicrobial peptide delivery strategies in bacterial therapy: A review

The escalating global prevalence of antimicrobial resistance poses a critical threat, prompting concerns about its impact on public health. This predicament is exacerbated by the acute shortage of novel antimicrobial agents, a scarcity attributed to the rapid surge in bacterial resistance. This review delves into the realm of antimicrobial peptides, a diverse class of compounds ubiquitously present in plants and animals across various natural organisms. Renowned for their intrinsic antibacterial activity, these peptides provide a promising avenue to tackle the intricate challenge of bacterial resistance. However, the clinical utility of peptide-based drugs is hindered by limited bioavailability and susceptibility to rapid degradation, constraining efforts to enhance the efficacy of bacterial infection treatments. The emergence of nanocarriers marks a transformative approach poised to revolutionize peptide delivery strategies. This review elucidates a promising framework involving nanocarriers within the realm of antimicrobial peptides. This paradigm enables meticulous and controlled peptide release at infection sites by detecting dynamic shifts in microenvironmental factors, including pH, ROS, GSH, and reactive enzymes. Furthermore, a glimpse into the future reveals the potential of targeted delivery mechanisms, harnessing inflammatory responses and intricate signaling pathways, including adenosine triphosphate, macrophage receptors, and pathogenic nucleic acid entities. This approach holds promise in fortifying immunity, thereby amplifying the potency of peptide-based treatments. In summary, this review spotlights peptide nanosystems as prospective solutions for combating bacterial infections. By bridging antimicrobial peptides with advanced nanomedicine, a new therapeutic era emerges, poised to confront the formidable challenge of antimicrobial resistance head-on.

Advances in Polymeric Micelles: Responsive and Targeting Approaches for Cancer Immunotherapy in the Tumor Microenvironment

In recent years, to treat a diverse array of cancer forms, considerable advancements have been achieved in the field of cancer immunotherapies. However, these therapies encounter multiple challenges in clinical practice, such as high immune-mediated toxicity, insufficient accumulation in cancer tissues, and undesired off-target reactions. To tackle these limitations and enhance bioavailability, polymer micelles present potential solutions by enabling precise drug delivery to the target site, thus amplifying the effectiveness of immunotherapy. This review article offers an extensive survey of recent progress in cancer immunotherapy strategies utilizing micelles. These strategies include responsive and remodeling approaches to the tumor microenvironment (TME), modulation of immunosuppressive cells within the TME, enhancement of immune checkpoint inhibitors, utilization of cancer vaccine platforms, modulation of antigen presentation, manipulation of engineered T cells, and targeting other components of the TME. Subsequently, we delve into the present state and constraints linked to the clinical utilization of polymeric micelles. Collectively, polymer micelles demonstrate excellent prospects in tumor immunotherapy by effectively addressing the challenges associated with conventional cancer immunotherapies.

Nano Self-Assembly for Apoptosis Induction and Early Therapeutic Efficacy Monitoring

Real-time monitoring of early antitumor efficacy is one of the key issues in realizing high-efficiency and more precise tumor treatment. As a highly specific event in the early stage of apoptosis, the release of cytochrome c may act as a key biomarker for monitoring cell apoptosis. However, achieving real-time monitoring of the cytochrome c release in vivo remains a challenge. Herein, we report a novel integrated nanosystem named DFeK nanoparticle (DFeK NP) to achieve a favorable collaboration of inducing tumor cell apoptosis and monitoring early therapeutic efficacy, which combined the cytochrome c-activated DNA nanoprobe cApt-App with pro-apoptotic peptide [KLAKLAK]2 and ferrous ions. [KLAKLAK]2 can target the mitochondria to disrupt the mitochondrial membrane together with reactive oxygen species produced by ferrous ions via the Fenton reaction to promote mitochondrial damage. Then, cytochrome c is released from damaged mitochondria to trigger apoptosis, further activating the cApt-App probe from the fluorescence "off" state to the "on" state. The cytochrome c-specific "off-to-on" transition was successfully applied in fluorescence imaging of cytochrome c in vivo and thus achieved real-time early therapeutic efficacy monitoring. Collectively, this work presents a valuable integrated tool for tumor inhibition and therapeutic efficacy evaluation to realize more precise and more effective tumor treatment.

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems to enhance cancer immunotherapy in solid tumors

Immunotherapy has developed rapidly in solid tumors, especially in the areas of blocking inhibitory immune checkpoints and adoptive T-cell transfer for immune regulation. Many patients benefit from immunotherapy. However, the response rate of immunotherapy in the overall population are relatively low, which depends on the characteristics of the tumor and individualized patient differences. Moreover, the occurrence of drug resistance and adverse reactions largely limit the development of immunotherapy. Recently, the emergence of nanodrug delivery systems (NDDS) seems to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy by encapsulating drug carriers in nanoparticles to precisely reach the tumor site with high stability and biocompatibility, prolonging the drug cycle of action and greatly reducing the occurrence of toxic side effects. In this paper, we mainly review the advantages of NDDS and the mechanisms that enhance conventional immunotherapy in solid tumors, and summarize the recent advances in NDDS-based therapeutic strategies, which will provide valuable ideas for the development of novel tumor immunotherapy regimen.

Particle carriers for controlled release of peptides

There has been growing discovery and use of therapeutic peptides in drug delivery and tissue engineering. Peptides are smaller than proteins and can be formulated into drug delivery systems without significant loss of their bioactivity, which remains a concern with proteins. However, the smaller size of peptides has made the controlled release of these bioactive molecules from carriers challenging. Thus, there has been increasing development of carriers to improve the controlled release of peptides by leveraging hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between the peptide and the carrier. The focus of this review paper is to critically discuss synthetic and natural nanoparticles and microparticles that have been investigated for the controlled delivery of peptides with emphasis on the underlying interactions.

Combining Metformin and Drug-Loaded Kidney-Targeting Micelles for Polycystic Kidney Disease

Introduction

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited kidney disease that leads to eventual renal failure. Metformin (MET), an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator already approved for type 2 diabetes, is currently investigated for ADPKD treatment. However, despite high tolerability, MET showed varying therapeutic efficacy in preclinical ADPKD studies. Thus, newer strategies have combined MET with other ADPKD small molecule drug candidates, thereby targeting multiple ADPKD-associated signaling pathways to enhance therapeutic outcomes through potential drug synergy. Unfortunately, the off-target side effects caused by these additional drug candidates pose a major hurdle. To address this, our group has previously developed kidney-targeting peptide amphiphile micelles (KMs), which displayed significant kidney accumulation in vivo, for delivering drugs to the site of the disease.

Methods

To mitigate the adverse effects of ADPKD drugs and evaluate their therapeutic potential in combination with MET, herein, we loaded KMs with ADPKD drug candidates including salsalate, octreotide, bardoxolone methyl, rapamycin, tolvaptan, and pioglitazone, and tested their in vitro therapeutic efficacy when combined with free MET. Specifically, after determining the 40% inhibitory concentration for each drug (IC40), the size, morphology, and surface charge of drug-loaded KMs were characterized. Next, drug-loaded KMs were applied in combination with MET to treat renal proximal tubule cells derived from Pkd1flox/-:TSLargeT mice in 2D proliferation and 3D cyst model.

Results

MET combined with all drug-loaded KMs demonstrated significantly enhanced efficacy as compared to free drugs in inhibiting cell proliferation and cyst growth. Notably, synergistic effects were found for MET and KMs loaded with either salsalate or rapamycin as determined by Bliss synergy scores.

Conclusion

Together, we show drug synergy using drug-loaded nanoparticles and free MET for the first time and present a novel nanomedicine-based combinatorial therapeutic approach for ADPKD with enhanced efficacy.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12195-022-00753-9.

Advancements in nanoparticle-based treatment approaches for skin cancer therapy

Skin cancer has emerged as the fifth most commonly reported cancer in the world, causing a burden on global health and the economy. The enormously rising environmental changes, industrialization, and genetic modification have further exacerbated skin cancer statistics. Current treatment modalities such as surgery, radiotherapy, conventional chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy are facing several issues related to cost, toxicity, and bioavailability thereby leading to declined anti-skin cancer therapeutic efficacy and poor patient compliance. In the context of overcoming this limitation, several nanotechnological advancements have been witnessed so far. Among various nanomaterials, nanoparticles have endowed exorbitant advantages by acting as both therapeutic agents and drug carriers for the remarkable treatment of skin cancer. The small size and large surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles escalate the skin tumor uptake through their leaky vasculature resulting in enhanced therapeutic efficacy. In this context, the present review provides up to date information about different types and pathology of skin cancer, followed by their current treatment modalities and associated drawbacks. Furthermore, it meticulously discusses the role of numerous inorganic, polymer, and lipid-based nanoparticles in skin cancer therapy with subsequent descriptions of their patents and clinical trials.

Advances in nanomaterial-based targeted drug delivery systems

Nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems (NBDDS) are widely used to improve the safety and therapeutic efficacy of encapsulated drugs due to their unique physicochemical and biological properties. By combining therapeutic drugs with nanoparticles using rational targeting pathways, nano-targeted delivery systems were created to overcome the main drawbacks of conventional drug treatment, including insufficient stability and solubility, lack of transmembrane transport, short circulation time, and undesirable toxic effects. Herein, we reviewed the recent developments in different targeting design strategies and therapeutic approaches employing various nanomaterial-based systems. We also discussed the challenges and perspectives of smart systems in precisely targeting different intravascular and extravascular diseases.

Knowledge landscape of tumor-associated macrophage research: A bibliometric and visual analysis

Background and aims

Tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) is a highly abundant immune population in tumor microenvironment, which plays an important role in tumor growth and progression. The aim of our study was to explore the development trends and research hotspots of TAM by bibliometric method.

Methods

The publications related to TAM were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were conducted using VOSviewer, CiteSpace and R software.

Results

A total of 6,405 articles published between 2001 and 2021 were included. The United States and China received the most citations, whereas the University of Milan, the university of California San Francisco and Sun Yat-sen University were the main research institutions. Mantovani, Alberto from Humanitas University was the most productive authors with the most citations. Cancer Research published the most articles and received the most co-citations. Activation, angiogenesis, breast cancer, NF-κB and endothelial growth factor were important keywords in TAM research. Among them, PD-1/L1, nanoparticle, PI3Kγ, resistance and immune microenvironment have become the focus of attention in more recent research.

Conclusions

The research on TAM is rapidly evolving with active cooperation worldwide. Anticancer therapy targeting TAM is emerging and promising area of future research, especially in translational application. This may provide guidance and new insights for further research in the field of TAM.

CD70-Targeted Micelles Enhance HIF2α siRNA Delivery and Inhibit Oncogenic Functions in Patient-Derived Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma Cells

The majority of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) are characterized by mutations in the Von Hippel−Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene, which leads to the stabilization and accumulation of the HIF2α transcription factor that upregulates key oncogenic pathways that promote glucose metabolism, cell cycle progression, angiogenesis, and cell migration. Although FDA-approved HIF2α inhibitors for treating VHL disease-related ccRCC are available, these therapies are associated with significant toxicities such as anemia and hypoxia. To improve ccRCC-specific drug delivery, peptide amphiphile micelles (PAMs) were synthesized incorporating peptides targeted to the CD70 marker expressed by ccRCs and anti-HIF2α siRNA, and the ability of HIF2α-CD27 PAMs to modulate HIF2α and its downstream targets was evaluated in human ccRCC patient-derived cells. Cell cultures were derived from eight human ccRCC tumors and the baseline mRNA expression of HIF2A and CD70, as well as the HIF2α target genes SLC2A1, CCND1, VEGFA, CXCR4, and CXCL12 were first determined. As expected, each gene was overexpressed by at least 63% of all samples compared to normal kidney proximal tubule cells. Upon incubation with HIF2α-CD27 PAMs, a 50% increase in ccRCC-binding was observed upon incorporation of a CD70-targeting peptide into the PAMs, and gel shift assays demonstrated the rapid release of siRNA (>80% in 1 h) under intracellular glutathione concentrations, which contributed to ~70% gene knockdown of HIF2α and its downstream genes. Further studies demonstrated that knockdown of the HIF2α target genes SLC2A1, CCND1, VEGFA, CXCR4, and CXCL12 led to inhibition of their oncogenic functions of glucose transport, cell proliferation, angiogenic factor release, and cell migration by 50−80%. Herein, the development of a nanotherapeutic strategy for ccRCC-specific siRNA delivery and its potential to interfere with key oncogenic pathways is presented.

Proton-mediated burst of dual-drug loaded liposomes for biofilm dispersal and bacterial killing

Exposure of infectious biofilms to dispersants induces high bacterial concentrations in blood that may cause sepsis. Preventing sepsis requires simultaneous biofilm dispersal and bacterial killing. Here, self-targeting DCPA(2-(4-((1,5-bis(octadecenoyl)1,5-dioxopentan-2-yl)carbamoyl)pyridin-1-ium-1-yl)acetate) liposomes with complexed water were self-assembled with ciprofloxacin loaded in-membrane and PEGylated as a lipid-membrane component, together with bromelain loaded in-core. Inside biofilms, DCPA-H₂O and PEGylated ciprofloxacin became protonated, disturbing the balance in the lipid-membrane to cause liposome-burst and simultaneous release of bromelain and ciprofloxacin. Simultaneous release of bromelain and ciprofloxacin enhanced bacterial killing in Staphylococcus aureus biofilms as compared with free bromelain and/or ciprofloxacin. After tail-vein injection in mice, liposomes accumulated inside intra-abdominal staphylococcal biofilms. Subsequent liposome-burst and simultaneous release of bromelain and ciprofloxacin yielded degradation of the biofilm matrix by bromelain and higher bacterial killing without inducing septic symptoms as obtained by injection of free bromelain and ciprofloxacin. This shows the advantage of simultaneous release from liposomes of bromelain and ciprofloxacin inside a biofilm.

Engineered nanomaterials trigger abscopal effect in immunotherapy of metastatic cancers

Despite advances in cancer treatment, metastatic cancer is still the main cause of death in cancer patients. At present, the treatment of metastatic cancer is limited to palliative care. The abscopal effect is a rare phenomenon in which shrinkage of metastatic tumors occurs simultaneously with the shrinkage of a tumor receiving localized treatment, such as local radiotherapy or immunotherapy. Immunotherapy shows promise for cancer treatment, but it also leads to consequences such as low responsiveness and immune-related adverse events. As a promising target-based approach, intravenous or intratumoral injection of nanomaterials provides new opportunities for improving cancer immunotherapy. Chemically modified nanomaterials may be able to trigger the abscopal effect by regulating immune cells. This review discusses the use of nanomaterials in killing metastatic tumor cells through the regulation of immune cells and the prospects of such nanomaterials for clinical use.

Therapeutic Response of miR-145 Micelles on Patient-Derived Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

During atherosclerosis, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) undergo a phenotypic transition from a healthy contractile state into pathological phenotypes including a proliferative and migratory, synthetic phenotype and osteochondrogenic-like phenotype that exacerbate plaques. Thus, inhibiting the transition of healthy, quiescent VSMCs to atherogenic cell types has the potential to mitigate atherosclerosis. To that end, previously, we reported that delivery of microRNA-145 (miR-145, a potent gatekeeper of the contractile VSMC phenotype) using nanoparticle micelles limited atherosclerotic plaque growth in murine models of atherosclerosis. Building on this preclinical data and toward clinical application, in this study, we tested the therapeutic viability of miR-145 micelles on patient-derived VSMCs and evaluated their effects based on disease severity. We collected vascular tissues from 11 patients with healthy, moderate, or severe stages of atherosclerosis that were discarded following vascular surgery or organ transplant, and isolated VSMCs from these tissues. We found that with increasing disease severity, patient-derived VSMCs had decreasing levels of contractile markers (miR-145, ACTA2, MYH11) and increasing levels of synthetic markers (KLF4, KLF5, and ELK1). Treatment with miR-145 micelles showed that an increase in disease severity correlated with a more robust response to therapy in VSMCs. Notably, miR-145 micelle therapy rescued contractile marker expression to baseline contractile levels in VSMCs derived from the most severely diseased tissues. As such, we demonstrate the use of miR-145 micelles across different stages of atherosclerosis disease and present further evidence of the translatability of miR-145 micelle treatment for atherosclerosis.

Immunization using ApoB-100 peptide-linked nanoparticles reduces atherosclerosis

Active immunization with the apolipoprotein B-100 (ApoB-100) peptide P210 reduces experimental atherosclerosis. To advance this immunization strategy to future clinical testing, we explored the possibility of delivering P210 as an antigen using nanoparticles, given this approach has been used clinically. We first characterized the responses of T cells to P210 using PBMCs from patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). We then investigated the use of P210 in self-assembling peptide amphiphile micelles (P210-PAMs) as a vaccine formulation to reduce atherosclerosis in B6.129P2-Apoe^tm1Unc/J (ApoE^–/–) mice and P210’s potential mechanisms of action. We also generated and characterized a humanized mouse model with chimeric HLA-A*02:01/Kb in ApoE^–/– background to test the efficacy of P210-PAM immunization as a bridge to future clinical testing. P210 provoked T cell activation and memory response in PBMCs of patients with ASCVD. Dendritic cell uptake of P210-PAM and its costaining with MHC-I molecules supported its use as a vaccine formulation. In ApoE^–/– mice, immunization with P210-PAMs dampened P210-specific CD4⁺ T cell proliferative response and CD8⁺ T cell cytolytic response, modulated macrophage phenotype, and significantly reduced aortic atherosclerosis. Potential clinical relevance of P210-PAM immunization was demonstrated by reduced atherosclerosis in the humanized ApoE^–/– mouse model. Our data support experimental and translational use of P210-PAM as a potential vaccine candidate against human ASCVD.

Triggering Immune System With Nanomaterials for Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer is a major cause of incidence rate and mortality worldwide. In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has made great progress in the preclinical and clinical treatment of advanced malignant tumors. However, cancer patients will have transient cancer suppression reaction and serious immune related adverse reactions when receiving immunotherapy. In recent years, nanoparticle-based immunotherapy, which can accurately deliver immunogens, activate antigen presenting cells (APCs) and effector cells, provides a new insight to solve the above problems. In this review, we discuss the research progress of nanomaterials in immunotherapy including nanoparticle-based delivery systems, nanoparticle-based photothermal and photodynamic immunotherapy, nanovaccines, nanoparticle-based T cell cancer immunotherapy and nanoparticle-based bacteria cancer immunotherapy. We also put forward the current challenges and prospects of immunomodulatory therapy.

Cytokine and Chemokine Receptor Patterns of Human Malignant Melanoma Cell Lines

Cytokine and chemokine receptors can promote tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis development by inducing different intracellular signaling pathways. The aim of this study was to determine the cytokine and chemokine receptor gene expression patterns in human melanoma cell lines. We found a large set of cytokine and chemokine receptor genes that were significantly differentially expressed between melanoma cell lines that originated from different subtypes of primary melanomas as well as cell lines that originated from melanoma metastases. The relative expressions of two receptor genes (CCR2 and TNFRSF11B) were positively correlated with the invasive potential of the cell lines, whereas a negative correlation was observed for the TNFRSF14 gene expression. We also found a small set of receptor genes that exhibited a significantly decreased expression in association with a BRAFV600E mutation. Based on our results, we assume that the analyzed cytokine and chemokine receptor collection may provide potential to distinguish the different subtypes of melanomas, helping us to understand the biological behavior of BRAFV600E-mutated melanoma cells.

Tumor-associated macrophages in cancer: recent advancements in cancer nanoimmunotherapies

Cancer immunotherapy has emerged as a novel cancer treatment, although recent immunotherapy trials have produced suboptimal outcomes, with durable responses seen only in a small number of patients. The tumor microenvironment (TME) has been shown to be responsible for tumor immune escape and therapy failure. The vital component of the TME is tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which are usually associated with poor prognosis and drug resistance, including immunotherapies, and have emerged as promising targets for cancer immunotherapy. Recently, nanoparticles, because of their unique physicochemical characteristics, have emerged as crucial translational moieties in tackling tumor-promoting TAMs that amplify immune responses and sensitize tumors to immunotherapies in a safe and effective manner. In this review, we mainly described the current potential nanomaterial-based therapeutic strategies that target TAMs, including restricting TAMs survival, inhibiting TAMs recruitment to tumors and functionally repolarizing tumor-supportive TAMs to antitumor type. The current understanding of the origin and polarization of TAMs, their crucial role in cancer progression and prognostic significance was also discussed in this review. We also highlighted the recent evolution of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-macrophage cell therapy.

Overcoming physiological barriers by nanoparticles for intravenous drug delivery to the lymph nodes

The lymph nodes are major sites of cancer metastasis and immune activity, and thus represent important clinical targets. Although not as well-studied compared to subcutaneous administration, intravenous drug delivery is advantageous for lymph node delivery as it is commonly practiced in the clinic and has the potential to deliver therapeutics systemically to all lymph nodes. However, rapid clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system, tight junctions of the blood vascular endothelium, and the collagenous matrix of the interstitium can limit the efficiency of lymph node drug delivery, which has prompted research into the design of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems. In this mini review, we describe the physiological and biological barriers to lymph node targeting, how they inform nanoparticle design, and discuss the future outlook of lymph node targeting.

CC Chemokines in a Tumor: A Review of Pro-Cancer and Anti-Cancer Properties of the Ligands of Receptors CCR1, CCR2, CCR3, and CCR4

CC chemokines, a subfamily of 27 chemotactic cytokines, are a component of intercellular communication, which is crucial for the functioning of the tumor microenvironment. Although many individual chemokines have been well researched, there has been no comprehensive review presenting the role of all known human CC chemokines in the hallmarks of cancer, and this paper aims at filling this gap. The first part of this review discusses the importance of CCL1, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL18, CCL19, CCL20, CCL21, CCL25, CCL27, and CCL28 in cancer. Here, we discuss the significance of CCL2 (MCP-1), CCL7, CCL8, CCL11, CCL13, CCL14, CCL15, CCL16, CCL17, CCL22, CCL23, CCL24, and CCL26. The presentation of each chemokine includes its physiological function and then the role in tumor, including proliferation, drug resistance, migration, invasion, and organ-specific metastasis of tumor cells, as well as the effects on angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. We also discuss the effects of each CC chemokine on the recruitment of cancer-associated cells to the tumor niche (eosinophils, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), tumor-associated neutrophils (TAN), regulatory T cells (T_reg)). On the other hand, we also present the anti-cancer properties of CC chemokines, consisting in the recruitment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL).