1
|
Ahmadi M, Ritter CA, von Woedtke T, Bekeschus S, Wende K. Package delivered: folate receptor-mediated transporters in cancer therapy and diagnosis. Chem Sci 2024; 15:1966-2006. [PMID: 38332833 PMCID: PMC10848714 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc05539f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Neoplasias pose a significant threat to aging society, underscoring the urgent need to overcome the limitations of traditional chemotherapy through pioneering strategies. Targeted drug delivery is an evolving frontier in cancer therapy, aiming to enhance treatment efficacy while mitigating undesirable side effects. One promising avenue utilizes cell membrane receptors like the folate receptor to guide drug transporters precisely to malignant cells. Based on the cellular folate receptor as a cancer cell hallmark, targeted nanocarriers and small molecule-drug conjugates have been developed that comprise different (bio) chemistries and/or mechanical properties with individual advantages and challenges. Such modern folic acid-conjugated stimuli-responsive drug transporters provide systemic drug delivery and controlled release, enabling reduced dosages, circumvention of drug resistance, and diminished adverse effects. Since the drug transporters' structure-based de novo design is increasingly relevant for precision cancer remediation and diagnosis, this review seeks to collect and debate the recent approaches to deliver therapeutics or diagnostics based on folic acid conjugated Trojan Horses and to facilitate the understanding of the relevant chemistry and biochemical pathways. Focusing exemplarily on brain and breast cancer, recent advances spanning 2017 to 2023 in conjugated nanocarriers and small molecule drug conjugates were considered, evaluating the chemical and biological aspects in order to improve accessibility to the field and to bridge chemical and biomedical points of view ultimately guiding future research in FR-targeted cancer therapy and diagnosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Ahmadi
- Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Center for Innovation Competence (ZIK) Plasmatis Felix Hausdorff-Str. 2 17489 Greifswald Germany
| | - Christoph A Ritter
- Institute of Pharmacy, Section Clinical Pharmacy, University of Greifswald Greifswald Germany
| | - Thomas von Woedtke
- Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Center for Innovation Competence (ZIK) Plasmatis Felix Hausdorff-Str. 2 17489 Greifswald Germany
- Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Greifswald University Medical Center Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße 17475 Greifswald Germany
| | - Sander Bekeschus
- Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Center for Innovation Competence (ZIK) Plasmatis Felix Hausdorff-Str. 2 17489 Greifswald Germany
- Clinic and Policlinic for Dermatology and Venereology, Rostock University Medical Center Strempelstr. 13 18057 Rostock Germany
| | - Kristian Wende
- Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Center for Innovation Competence (ZIK) Plasmatis Felix Hausdorff-Str. 2 17489 Greifswald Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fonseca M, Jarak I, Victor F, Domingues C, Veiga F, Figueiras A. Polymersomes as the Next Attractive Generation of Drug Delivery Systems: Definition, Synthesis and Applications. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 17:319. [PMID: 38255485 PMCID: PMC10817611 DOI: 10.3390/ma17020319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Polymersomes are artificial nanoparticles formed by the self-assembly process of amphiphilic block copolymers composed of hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks. They can encapsulate hydrophilic molecules in the aqueous core and hydrophobic molecules within the membrane. The composition of block copolymers can be tuned, enabling control of characteristics and properties of formed polymersomes and, thus, their application in areas such as drug delivery, diagnostics, or bioimaging. The preparation methods of polymersomes can also impact their characteristics and the preservation of the encapsulated drugs. Many methods have been described, including direct hydration, thin film hydration, electroporation, the pH-switch method, solvent shift method, single and double emulsion method, flash nanoprecipitation, and microfluidic synthesis. Considering polymersome structure and composition, there are several types of polymersomes including theranostic polymersomes, polymersomes decorated with targeting ligands for selective delivery, stimuli-responsive polymersomes, or porous polymersomes with multiple promising applications. Due to the shortcomings related to the stability, efficacy, and safety of some therapeutics in the human body, polymersomes as drug delivery systems have been good candidates to improve the quality of therapies against a wide range of diseases, including cancer. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy can be improved by using polymersomes to deliver the drugs, protecting and directing them to the exact site of action. Moreover, this approach is also promising for targeted delivery of biologics since they represent a class of drugs with poor stability and high susceptibility to in vivo clearance. However, the lack of a well-defined regulatory plan for polymersome formulations has hampered their follow-up to clinical trials and subsequent market entry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Fonseca
- Univ. Coimbra, Laboratory of Drug Development and Technologies, Faculty of Pharmacy, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; (M.F.); (I.J.); (C.D.); (F.V.)
| | - Ivana Jarak
- Univ. Coimbra, Laboratory of Drug Development and Technologies, Faculty of Pharmacy, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; (M.F.); (I.J.); (C.D.); (F.V.)
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Francis Victor
- Department of Pharmacy, University Chenab Gujarat, Punjab 50700, Pakistan;
| | - Cátia Domingues
- Univ. Coimbra, Laboratory of Drug Development and Technologies, Faculty of Pharmacy, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; (M.F.); (I.J.); (C.D.); (F.V.)
- Univ. Coimbra, REQUIMTE/LAQV, Group of Pharmaceutical Technology, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
- Univ. Coimbra, Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), Area of Environment Genetics and Oncobiology (CIMAGO), Faculty of Medicine, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Francisco Veiga
- Univ. Coimbra, Laboratory of Drug Development and Technologies, Faculty of Pharmacy, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; (M.F.); (I.J.); (C.D.); (F.V.)
- Univ. Coimbra, REQUIMTE/LAQV, Group of Pharmaceutical Technology, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Ana Figueiras
- Univ. Coimbra, Laboratory of Drug Development and Technologies, Faculty of Pharmacy, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; (M.F.); (I.J.); (C.D.); (F.V.)
- Univ. Coimbra, REQUIMTE/LAQV, Group of Pharmaceutical Technology, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Grillo DA, Albano JMR, Valladares T. RE, Mocskos EE, Facelli JC, Pickholz M, Ferraro MB. Molecular dynamics study of the mechanical properties of drug loaded model systems: A comparison of a polymersome with a bilayer. J Chem Phys 2023; 159:174908. [PMID: 37929867 PMCID: PMC10629967 DOI: 10.1063/5.0165478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
In this work we implement a new methodology to study structural and mechanical properties of systems having spherical and planar symmetries throughout Molecular Dynamics simulations. This methodology is applied here to a drug delivery system based in polymersomes, as an example. The chosen model drug was the local anesthetic prilocaine due to previous parameterization within the used coarse grain scheme. In our approach, mass density profiles (MDPs) are used to obtain key structural parameters of the systems, and pressure profiles are used to estimate the curvature elastic parameters. The calculation of pressure profiles and radial MPDs required the development of specific methods, which were implemented in an in-house built version of the GROMACS 2018 code. The methodology presented in this work is applied to characterize poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(butadiene) polymersomes and bilayers loaded with the model drug prilocaine. Our results show that structural properties of the polymersome membrane could be obtained from bilayer simulations, with significantly lower computational cost compared to whole polymersome simulations, but the bilayer simulations are insufficient to get insights on their mechanical aspects, since the elastic parameters are canceled out for the complete bilayer (as consequence of the symmetry). The simulations of entire polymersomes, although more complex, offer a complementary approach to get insights on the mechanical behavior of the systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan M. R. Albano
- CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires (IFIBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Rufino E. Valladares T.
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | - Julio C. Facelli
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah, 421 Wakara Way, Suite 140, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|