Differential cell responses to nanoparticle docetaxel and small molecule docetaxel at a sub-therapeutic dose range

Moving beyond traditional therapies: the role of nanomedicines in lung cancer

Amidst a global rise in lung cancer occurrences, conventional therapies continue to pose substantial side effects and possess notable toxicities while lacking specificity. Counteracting this, the incorporation of nanomedicines can notably enhance drug delivery at tumor sites, extend a drug's half-life and mitigate inadvertent toxic and adverse impacts on healthy tissues, substantially influencing lung cancer's early detection and targeted therapy. Numerous studies signal that while the nano-characteristics of lung cancer nanomedicines play a pivotal role, further interplay with immune, photothermal, and genetic factors exist. This review posits that the progression towards multimodal combination therapies could potentially establish an efficacious platform for multimodal targeted lung cancer treatments. Current nanomedicines split into active and passive targeting. Active therapies focus on a single target, often with unsatisfactory results. Yet, developing combination systems targeting multiple sites could chart new paths in lung cancer therapy. Conversely, low drug delivery rates limit passive therapies. Utilizing the EPR effect to bind specific ligands on nanoparticles to tumor cell receptors might create a new regime combining active-passive targeting, potentially elevating the nanomedicines' concentration at target sites. This review collates recent advancements through the lens of nanomedicine's attributes for lung cancer therapeutics, the novel carrier classifications, targeted therapeutic modalities and their mechanisms, proposing that the emergence of multi-target nanocomposite therapeutics, combined active-passive targeting therapies and multimodal combined treatments will pioneer novel approaches and tools for future lung cancer clinical therapies.

Nanoparticle-mediated synergistic drug combination for treating bone metastasis

Bone metastasis at an advanced disease stage is common in most solid tumors and is untreatable. Overexpression of receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) in tumor-bone marrow microenvironment drives a vicious cycle of tumor progression and bone resorption. Biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs), designed to localize in the tumor tissue in bone marrow, were evaluated in a prostate cancer model of bone metastasis. The combination treatment, encapsulating docetaxel, an anticancer drug (TXT-NPs), and Denosumab, a monoclonal antibody that binds to RANKL (DNmb-NPs), administered intravenously regressed the tumor completely, preventing bone resorption, without causing any mortality. With TXT-NPs alone treatment, after an initial regression, the tumor relapsed and acquired resistance, whereas DNmb-NPs alone treatment was ineffective. Only in the combination treatment, RANKL was not detected in the tumor tibia, thus negating its role in tumor progression and bone resorption. The combination treatment was determined to be safe as the vital organ tissue showed no increase in inflammatory cytokine or the liver ALT/AST levels, and animals gained weight. Overall, dual drug treatment acted synergistically to modulate the tumor-bone microenvironment with encapsulation enhancing their therapeutic potency to achieve tumor regression.

In Vitro Evaluation of NLS-DTX Activity in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Cancer is one of the most lethal diseases in the world, and the development and improvement of treatments used in cancer therapies are extremely important for a better quality of life for patients. In view of the current problems in drug administration such as low solubility and adverse effects, the activity of a solid lipid nanoparticle containing docetaxel (SLN-DTX), a drug already used in conventional therapies, was evaluated in a cell line (MDA-MB-231) of one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer with the worst prognosis, triple-negative breast cancer. Viability tests indicated that SLN-DTX has a greater dependence on the treatment dose when compared to the free drug, which indicates a more controlled release of the drug, and both reduced viability by around 50% at a concentration of 1 µg/mL after 72 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal and light microscopy analyses indicated that after treatment the cells enter a mitotic catastrophe, characteristic of antimitotic drugs that usually make cells progress to death or senescence. Cells treated with both DTX and SLN-DTX showed significant inhibition of mobility, 73.6% and 66.5% when treated with SLN-DTX and DTX, respectively, compared to the 11.4% of the control after 72 h, characteristics that are very relevant in tumor development and progression. SLN-DTX demonstrated its great potential as a nanocarrier by maintaining and improving the drug’s action in the MDA-MB-231 cell line.

Poly(2-oxazoline) nanoparticle delivery enhances the therapeutic potential of vismodegib for medulloblastoma by improving CNS pharmacokinetics and reducing systemic toxicity

We report a nanoparticle formulation of the SHH-pathway inhibitor vismodegib that improves efficacy for medulloblastoma, while reducing toxicity. Limited blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration and dose-limiting extitle/citraneural toxicities complicate systemic therapies for brain tumors. Vismodegib is FDA-approved for SHH-driven basal cell carcinoma, but implementation for medulloblastoma has been limited by inadequate efficacy and excessive bone toxicity. To address these issues through optimized drug delivery, we formulated vismodegib in polyoxazoline block copolymer micelles (POx-vismo). We then evaluated POx-vismo in transgenic mice that develop SHH-driven medulloblastomas with native vasculature and tumor microenvironment. POx-vismo improved CNS pharmacokinetics and reduced bone toxicity. Mechanistically, the nanoparticle carrier did not enter the CNS, and acted within the vascular compartment to improve drug delivery. Unlike conventional vismodegib, POx-vismo extended survival in medulloblastoma-bearing mice. Our results show the broad potential for non-targeted nanoparticle formulation to improve systemic brain tumor therapy, and specifically to improve vismodegib therapy for SHH-driven cancers.

Polysilicon-chromium-gold intracellular chips for multi-functional biomedical applications

The development of micro- and nanosystems for their use in biomedicine is a continuously growing field. One of the major goals of such platforms is to combine multiple functions in a single entity. However, achieving the design of an efficient and safe micro- or nanoplatform has shown to be strongly influenced by its interaction with the biological systems, where particle features or cell types play a critical role. In this work, the feasibility of using multi-material pSi-Cr-Au intracellular chips (MMICCs) for multifunctional applications by characterizing their interactions with two different cell lines, one tumorigenic and one non-tumorigenic, in terms of biocompatibility, internalization and intracellular fate, has been explored. Moreover, the impact of MMICCs on the induction of an inflammatory response has been assessed by evaluating TNFα, IL1b, IL6, and IL10 human inflammatory cytokines secretion by macrophages. Results show that MMICCs are biocompatible and their internalization efficiency is strongly dependent on the cell type. Finally as a proof-of-concept, MMICCs have been dually functionalized with transferrin and pHrodo™ Red, SE to target cancer cells and detect intracellular pH, respectively. In conclusion, MMICCs can be used as multi-functional devices due to their high biocompatibility, non-inflammatory properties and the ability of developing multiple functions.

Effect of drug release kinetics on nanoparticle therapeutic efficacy and toxicity

The effects of nanoparticle (NP) properties, such as size, shape and surface charge, on their efficacy and toxicity have been studied extensively. However, the effect of controlled drug release on NP efficacy and toxicity has not been thoroughly evaluated in vivo. Our study aims to fill this knowledge gap. A key challenge in characterizing the relationship between drug release and therapeutic ratio is to fabricate NPs that differ only in their drug release profile but are otherwise identical. To overcome this challenge, we developed crosslinkable lipid shell (CLS) NPs, where the drug release kinetics can be modulated without changing any other NP property. Using CLS NPs with wortmannin and docetaxel as model drugs, we determined the relationship between the release kinetics and therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of the drugs. We have determined that drug release kinetics can affect the therapeutic efficacy of NP docetaxel and NP wortmannin in vitro and in vivo. Our study also demonstrates that a decrease in drug release kinetics can result in a decrease in the hepatotoxicity of CLS NP wortmannin. Using two model drugs, the current findings provide the first direct evidence that NP drug release profile is a critical factor in determining the NP therapeutics' efficacy and toxicity in vivo.

Preparation, characterization, and antitumor activities of folate-decorated docetaxel-loaded human serum albumin nanoparticles

CONTEXT

Docetaxel is now a major antitumor drug in clinical use for the treatment of a variety of tumors. The ethanol/Tween 80 solvent required in the formulation to increase the docetaxel solubility is at least partly responsible for the hypersensitivity reaction, decreased uptake by tumor tissue, and increased exposure to other body compartments.

OBJECTIVE

The present study was aimed at developing hydrosoluble DTX-FA-HSANPs targeting tumor cells and to investigate antitumor activities of the nanoparticles.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The DTX-HSANPs were prepared using a desolvation technique and the carboxylic groups of NHS-folate were conjugated with the amino groups of the human serum albumin nanoparticles, and studied their size and zeta potential, drug loading efficiency, surface morphology, release properties in vitro, and antitumor activities.

RESULTS

The spherical nanoparticles obtained were negatively charged with a zeta potential of about -30 mV and characterized around 150 nm with a narrow size distribution. Drug loading efficiency was approximately 17.2%. The folate-decorated nanoparticles targeted a human hepatoma cell line effectively. The in vitro drug release of DTX-FA-HSANPs in the first 96 h corresponded with the following equation: Q = 18.87851 - 0.13866t + 0.21276t² - 0.00704t³ + 0.0000847854t⁴ - 0.00000034991t⁵ (R² = 0.98155). Moreover, the in vitro antitumor activities of DTX-FA-HSANPs were close to the activities of the positive control (docetaxel). The in vivo inhibition ratios of DTX-FA-HSANPs and docetaxel were 66.2% and 59.5%, respectively, at a dose of 5 mg/kg.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

In light of the observed antitumor activities, it would be of considerable interest to collect sufficient data for the clinical application of docetaxel-loaded nanoparticles.