PEG-4000 formed polymeric nanoparticles loaded with cetuximab downregulate p21 &stathmin-1 gene expression in cancer cell lines

Nanoformulations in the treatment of lung cancer: current status and clinical potential

OBJECTIVE

Recent developments in nanotechnology have regained hope in enabling the eradication of lung cancer, while overcoming the drawbacks of the classic therapeutics. Nevertheless, there are still formidable obstacles that hinder the translation of such platforms from the bench into the clinic. Herein, we shed light on the clinical potential of these formulations and discuss their future directions.

SIGNIFICANCE OF REVIEW

The current article sheds light on the recent advancements in the recruitment of nanoformulations against lung cancer, focusing on their unique features, merits, and demerits. Moreover, inorganic nanoparticles, including gold, silver, magnetic, and carbon nanotubes are highlighted as emerging drug delivery technologies. Furthermore, the clinical status of these formulations is discussed, with particular attention on the challenges that they encounter in their clinical translation. Lastly, the future perspectives in this promising area are inspired.

KEY FINDINGS

Nanoformulations have a promising potential in improving the physico-chemical properties, pharmacokinetics, delivery efficiency, and selectivity of lung cancer therapeutics. The key challenges that encounter their clinical translation include their structural intricacy, high production cost, scale-up issues, and unclear toxicity profiles. The application of biodegradable platforms improves the biosafety of lung cancer-targeted nanomedicine. Moreover, the design of novel targeting strategies that apply a lower number of components can promote their industrial scalability and deliver them to the market at affordable prices.

CONCLUSIONS

Nanomedicines have opened up new possibilities for treating lung cancer. Focusing on tackling the challenges that hinder their clinical translation will promote the future of this area of endeavor.

Intranasal delivery of sulpiride nanostructured lipid carrier to central nervous system; in vitro characterization and in vivo study

The low and erratic oral absorption of sulpiride (SUL) a dopaminergic receptor antagonist, and its P-glycoprotein efflux in the gastrointestinal tract restricted its oral route for central nervous system disorders. An intranasal formulation was formulated based on nanostructured lipid carrier to tackle these obstacles and deliver SUL directly to the brain. Sulipride-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier (SUL-NLC) was prepared using compritol®888 ATO and different types of liquid lipids and emulsifiers. SUL-NLCs were characterized for their particle size, charge, and encapsulation efficiency. Morphology and compatibility with other NLC excipients were also studied. Moreover, SUL in vitro release, nanodispersion stability, in vivo performance and SUL pharmacokinetics were investigated. Results delineates that SUL-NLC have a particle size ranging from 366.2 ± 62.1 to 640.4 ± 50.2 nm and encapsulation efficiency of 75.5 ± 1.5%. SUL showed a sustained release pattern over 24 h and maintained its physical stability for three months. Intranasal SUL-NLC showed a significantly (p < 0.01) higher SUL brain concentration than that found in plasma after oral administration of commercial SUL product with 4.47-fold increase in the relative bioavailability. SUL-NLCs as a nose to brain approach is a promising formulation for enhancing the SUL bioavailability and efficient management of neurological disorders.

Fabrication and optimization of naringin-loaded MOF-5 encapsulated by liponiosomes as smart drug delivery, cytotoxicity, and apoptotic on breast cancer cells

INTRODUCTION

Cancers are regarded as hazardous due to their high worldwide death rate, with breast cancer (BC), which affects practically all cancer patients globally, playing a significant role in this statistic. The therapeutic approach for BC has not advanced using standard techniques, such as specialized naringin (NG) chemotherapy. Instead, a novel strategy has been utilized to enhance smart drug delivery (SDD) to tumors.

SIGNIFICANCE

Herein, we established NG-loaded zinc metal-organic framework-5 (NG-MOF-5) coated with liponiosomes (LNs) to manufacture NG-MOF-5@LNs nanoparticles (NPs) for antibacterial and cancer treatment.

METHODS

MOF-5, NG, and NG-MOF-5@LNs were evaluated with XRD, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), FTIR, SEM, TEM, PDI, ZP, encapsulation efficiency (EE), loading efficiency (LE), and drug release (DR) kinetics. We examined the antibacterial activity involving minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone of inhibition by NG, MOF-5, and NG-MOF-5@LNs. The cell viability, necrosis, and total apoptosis (late and early) were evaluated for anti-cancer activity against MCF-7 BC cells.

RESULTS

TEM results demonstrated that NG-MOF-5@LNs formed monodispersed spherical-like particles with a size of 122.5 nm, PDI of 0.139, and ZP of +21 mV. The anti-microbial activity results indicated that NG-MOF-5@LNs exhibited potent antibacterial effects, as evidenced by inhibition zones and MIC values. The Higuchi model indicates an excellent fit (R2 = 0.9988). The MTT assay revealed anti-tumor activity against MCF-7 BC cells, with IC50 of 21 µg/mL for NG-MOF-5@LNs and demonstrating a total apoptosis effect of 68.2% on MCF-7 cells.

CONCLUSION

NG-MOF-5@LNs is anticipated to show as an effective antimicrobial and novel long-term-release antitumor agent and might be more suitable for MCF-7 cell therapy.

Doxorubicin-sanguinarine nanoparticles: formulation and evaluation of breast cancer cell apoptosis and cell cycle

BACKGROUND

Therapeutic resistance fails cancer treatment. Drug-nanoparticle combinations overcome resistance. Sanguinarine-conjugated nanoparticles may boost sanguinarine's anticancer effects.

METHODS

Sanguinarine, HPMC-NPs, and doxorubicin were tested on Adriamycin-resistant MCF-7/ADR breast cancer cells, parent-sensitive MCF-7, and MCR-5 normal cells (DX).

RESULTS

Regular distribution, 156 nm diameter, <1 μm average size, 100% intensity-SN is therapeutic. Furthermore, the obtained NPs showed PDI = 0.145, zeta-potential=-37.6, and EE%=90.5%. DX sensitized MCF-7 cells (IC50 = 1.4 μM) more than MCF-7/ADR cells (IC50 = 27 μM) with RR = 19.3. SA and SN were more toxic to MCF-7/ADR cells (overexpressed with P-gp) than their sensitive parent MCF-7 cells (IC50 = 4 μM, RR = 0.6 and 0.6 μM, RR = 0.7). MCR-5 normal lung cells were more resistant to SA (IC50 = 7.2 μM) and SN (IC50 = 1.6 μM) with a selection index > 2. Synergistic cytotoxic interactions reduced the IC50 from 27 μM to 1.6 (CI = 0.1) and 0.9 (CI = 0.4) after DX and nontoxic dosages (IC20) of SA and SN. DS and SN killed 27.1% and 39.4% more cells than DX (7.7%), SA (4.9%), SN (5.5%), or untreated control (0.3%). DS and DSN lowered CCND1 and survival in MCF-7/ADR cells while raising p21 and Casp3 gene and protein expression.

CONCLUSIONS

Cellular and molecular studies suggested adjuvant chemosensitizers SA and SN to reverse MDR in breast cancer cells.

Evaluation of the anticancer activity of Origanum Marjoram as a safe natural drink for daily use

BACKGROUND

Chemotherapeutic agents have numerous side effects. There is a major interest in using natural and safe plants as food or drink to prevent from cancer. Origanum marjoram (OMAE) is a medicinal plant that can be used as a tea, food, and additive in traditional medicine.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the potential anticancer effects of OMAE as a soft drink for daily use against a model cancer, prevention and treatment.

METHOD

MCF-7 cells were chosen as model cancer cells. The MTT assay was used to assess the in vitro inhibitory effects of OMAE on cell growth. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect specific genes associated with cancer, such as ESR1, Bax, Bcl-2, and p53. Furthermore, the DNA damage was evaluated using the comet assay.

RESULTS

OMAE has IC50 of 53.1 and IC90 of 97.5 μg/ml dependent inhibition of cell proliferation after 48 h of treatment toward MCF-7. Also, a significant decrease in the expression level of the ESR1 gene in the MCF-7 cell line. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the comet length and comet-positive cells after treatment with OMAE (88.7%) compared with those in the untreated control cells (9.5%), suggesting a high induction of DNA damage by OMAE. Also, OMAE showed a modification in bcl-2, tumor suppressor gene (p53), and Bax levels and influenced the BAX/BCL-2 ratio via releasing the cytochrome C.

CONCLUSION

The results of the study were promising, suggesting that the reduced apoptotic rate of MCF-7 breast cancer cells in this work was correlated to the potential anticancer effect of OMAE which would be a suitable preventable drink against cancer. However, further studies are needed to fully understand the potential of OMAE as a cancer treatment.

STNM1 in human cancers: role, function and potential therapy sensitizer

STMN1 belongs to the stathmin gene family, it encodes a cytoplasmic phosphorylated protein, stathmin1, which is commonly observed in vertebrate cells. STMN1 is a structural microtubule-associated protein (MAP) that binds to microtubule protein dimers rather than microtubules, with each STMN1 binding two microtubule protein dimers and preventing their aggregation, leading to microtubule instability. STMN1 expression is elevated in a number of malignancies, and inhibition of its expression can interfere with tumor cell division. Its expression can change the division of tumor cells, thereby arresting cell growth in the G2/M phase. Moreover, STMN1 expression affects tumor cell sensitivity to anti-microtubule drug analogs, including vincristine and paclitaxel. The research on MAPs is limited, and new insights on the mechanism of STMN1 in different cancers are emerging. The effective application of STMN1 in cancer prognosis and treatment requires further understanding of this protein. Here, we summarize the general characteristics of STMN1 and outline how STMN1 plays a role in cancer development, targeting multiple signaling networks and acting as a downstream target for multiple microRNAs, circRNAs, and lincRNAs. We also summarize recent findings on the function role of STMN1 in tumor resistance and as a therapeutic target for cancer.

Silver Nanoparticles Stabilized by Poly (Vinyl Pyrrolidone) with Potential Anticancer Activity towards Prostate Cancer

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and inflammatory cytokine (IL-6) play a vital role in various cellular incidents such as the proliferation and death of cells during carcinogenesis. Hence, regulation of these biomarkers could be a promising tool for controlling tumor progression using nanoformulations. Silver nanoparticles-poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (AgNPs-PVP) were prepared using the reduction of silver nitrate and stabilized with PVP. They are characterized through yield percentage, UV-VIS, FT-IR, size, charge, and morphology. The obtained AgNPs were tested for anticancer activity against prostate cancer (PC 3) and human skin fibroblast (HFS) cell lines. Moreover, biomarker-based confirmations like TNF-α and IL-6 were estimated. The synthesized AgNPs-PVP were stable, spherical in shape, with particle sizes of 122.33 ± 17.61 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.49 ± 0.07, and a negative surface charge of -19.23 ± 0.61 mV. In vitro cytotoxicity testing showed the AgNPs-PVP exhibited antiproliferation properties in PC3 in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, when compared to control cells, AgNPs-PVP has lower TNF-α with a significant value ( ∗ p < 0.05); the value reached 16.84 ± 0.71 pg/ml versus 20.81 ± 0.44 pg/ml, respectively. In addition, HSF cells showed a high level of reduction ( ∗∗∗ p < 0.001) in IL-6 production. This study suggested that AgNPs-PVP could be a possible therapeutic agent for human prostate cancer and anti-IL-6 in cancerous and noncancerous cells. Further studies will be performed to investigate the effect of AgNPs-PVP in different types of cancer.