Folic Acid-Functionalized Carbon Dot-Enabled Starvation Therapy in Synergism with Paclitaxel against Breast Cancer

Nanogel-Carbon Dot Conjugates: A Synergistic Approach for Enhanced Cancer Treatment through Combination Therapy

The present study reports the development of a novel nanoconjugate, NG-FACD, comprising a positively charged self-assembled nanogel (NG) derived from a peptide amphiphilic hydrogelator and a negatively charged folic acid-functionalized blue-emitting carbon dot (FACD), bound via electrostatic interactions. NG-FACD was developed to combine the advantages of the individual nanocarriers and overcome their drawbacks. The presence of folic acid enables NG-FACD to be successfully used in selective bioimaging and targeted combination therapy against folate receptor-positive (FR+) B16F10 over FR- cells. NG-FACD demonstrated improved riboflavin (RbF) and paclitaxel (PTX) loading compared to individual nanocarriers that made it ∼1.8- and 1.5-fold more cytotoxic toward FR+ B16F10 cells over RbF- and PTX-loaded individual nanocarriers. The concurrent presence of RbF and PTX on NG-FACD displayed ∼1.9-2.8-fold higher cytotoxicity than single drug-loaded individual nanocarriers and ∼3-4.5-fold higher cytotoxicity through RbF-mediated photodynamic therapy and PTX-induced chemotherapy in synergy compared to free drugs against FR+ B16F10 cells.

Mechanism of Taxanes in the Treatment of Lung Cancer Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Taxanes are natural compounds for the treatment of lung cancer, but the molecular mechanism behind the effects is unclear. In the present study, through network pharmacology and molecular docking, the mechanism of the target and pathway of taxanes in the treatment of lung cancer was studied. The taxanes targets were determined by PubChem database, and an effective compounds-targets network was constructed. The GeneCards database was used to determine the disease targets of lung cancer, and the intersection of compound targets and disease targets was obtained. The Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network of the intersection targets was analyzed, and the PPI network was constructed by Cytoscape 3.6.0 software. The hub targets were screened according to the degree value, and the binding activity between taxanes and hub targets was verified by molecular docking. The results showed that eight taxane-active compounds and 444 corresponding targets were screened out, and 131 intersection targets were obtained after mapping with lung cancer disease targets. The hub targets obtained by PPI analysis were TP53, EGFR, and AKT1. Gene Ontology (GO) biological function enrichment analysis obtained 1795 biological process (BP) terms, 101 cellular component (CC) terms, and 164 molecular function (MF) terms. There were 179 signaling pathways obtained by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Twenty signaling pathways were screened out, mainly pathways in cancer, proteoglycans in cancer pathway, microRNAs in cancer pathway, and so on. Molecular docking shows that the binding energies of eight taxanes with TP53, EGFR, and AKT1 targets were less than -8.8 kcal/mol, taxanes acts on TP53, EGFR, and AKT1 targets through pathways in cancer, proteoglycans in cancer pathway and microRNAs in cancer pathway, and plays a role in treating lung cancer in biological functions such as protein binding, enzyme binding, and identical protein binding.

Carbon Nanomaterials (CNMs) in Cancer Therapy: A Database of CNM-Based Nanocarrier Systems

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are an incredibly versatile class of materials that can be used as scaffolds to construct anticancer nanocarrier systems. The ease of chemical functionalisation, biocompatibility, and intrinsic therapeutic capabilities of many of these nanoparticles can be leveraged to design effective anticancer systems. This article is the first comprehensive review of CNM-based nanocarrier systems that incorporate approved chemotherapy drugs, and many different types of CNMs and chemotherapy agents are discussed. Almost 200 examples of these nanocarrier systems have been analysed and compiled into a database. The entries are organised by anticancer drug type, and the composition, drug loading/release metrics, and experimental results from these systems have been compiled. Our analysis reveals graphene, and particularly graphene oxide (GO), as the most frequently employed CNM, with carbon nanotubes and carbon dots following in popularity. Moreover, the database encompasses various chemotherapeutic agents, with antimicrotubule agents being the most common payload due to their compatibility with CNM surfaces. The benefits of the identified systems are discussed, and the factors affecting their efficacy are detailed.

Folic-acid adorned alginate-polydopamine modified paclitaxel/Zn-CuO nanocomplex for pH triggered drug release and synergistic antitumor efficacy

Targeted chemotherapy is a prominent cancer treatment research trend that intends to boost the efficacy of drug delivery to cancer cells. The present work aimed to design, a folate-decorated biologically inspired alginate-polydopamine capped zinc doped copper oxide nanoparticles (Zn-CuO) loaded with paclitaxel (Zn-CuO@PTX/AlgPDA-FA) as a simple, efficient, and versatile nanoplatform. Interestingly, Zn species doped in CuO frameworks significantly improved paclitaxel (PTX) molecule loading efficiency without requiring any additional functionalization and fostered the increased antitumor efficacy by precisely delivering them in tumor's acidic microenvironment by obliterating the formed coordination connections between the host as well as guest species. According to DLS, average size of nanocomplex was 196 ± 5.01 nm with ȥ-potential -31.4 ± 1.54 mV. PTX encapsulation and loading efficiencies were 75.2 ± 1.54 % and 18.54 ± 2.31 %, respectively. Furthermore, nanocomplex demonstrates high stability and biocompatibility in vitro. Under an acidic environment (pH 5.0), there was greater PTX release compared to normal physiological conditions. Moreover, Zn-CuO@PTX/AlgPDA-FA NPs showed remarkable internalization efficiency in MCF-7 cells and demonstrated strong cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ (150 ± 2.58 μg/mL) along with improved ROS generation and changed mitochondrial membrane potential level. Therefore, our approach could suggest excellent potential for tumor targeting in cancer therapy with reduced off-target toxicity, and desirable therapeutic effects.

Easy Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Carbon Dots Using the One-Pot Green Method for Cancer Therapy

In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) were used for the synthesis of novel targeted nanocarrier carbon dots (CDC-H) with photo-luminescence using a one-step hydrothermal method. Doxorubicin (DOX), a common chemotherapeutic agent, was loaded with the CDC-H through electrostatic interactions to form DOX-CDC-H complexes as a targeted antitumor drug delivery system. The synthesized CDC-H show a particle size of approximately 6 nm and a high fluorescence quantum yield of 11.64%. The physical and chemical character properties of CDC-H and DOX-CDC-H complexes were investigated using various techniques. The results show that CDC-H have stable luminescent properties and exhibit excellent water solubility. The in vitro release study showed that DOX-CDC-H exhibited pH-dependent release for 24 h. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was applied to investigate the potential of CDC-H for cell imaging and the cellular uptake of DOX-CDC-H in different cells (NIH-3T3 and 4T1 cells), and the results confirmed the target cell imaging and cellular uptake of DOX-CDC-H by specifically binding the CD44 receptors on the surface of tumor cells. The r MTT results suggest that the DOX-CDC-H complex may induce apoptosis in 4T1 cells, reducing the cytotoxicity of free DOX-induced apoptosis. In vivo antitumor experiments of DOX-CDC-H exhibited enhanced tumor cancer therapy. CDC-H have potential applications in bioimaging and antitumor drug delivery.

Progress on carbon dots and hydroxyapatite based biocompatible luminescent nanomaterials for cancer theranostics

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Biocompatible carbon dots (CDs) and nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) have attracted much attention for the development of optical imaging probes.

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This review discusses the development of CD and nHA based nanomaterials as multifunctional agents for cancer theranostics.

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The effect of synthesis strategies and doping on photoluminescent properties along with tuning of emission in biological window has been briefly reviewed.

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The cancer targeting strategies, biocompatibility and biodistribution of CDs and nHA based luminescent probes is discussed.

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A summary of current challenges and future perspectives is provided.

Despite the significant advancement in cancer diagnosis and therapy, a huge burden remains. Consequently, much research has been diverted on the development of multifunctional nanomaterials for improvement in conventional diagnosis and therapy. Luminescent nanomaterials offer a versatile platform for the development of such materials as their intrinsic photoluminescence (PL) property offers convergence of diagnosis as well as therapy at the same time. However, the clinical translation of nanomaterials faces various challenges, including biocompatibility and cost-effective scale up production. Thus, luminescent materials with facile synthesis approach along with intrinsic biocompatibility and anticancerous activity hold significant importance. As a result, carbon dots (CDs) and nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) have attracted much attention for the development of optical imaging probes. CDs are the newest members of the carbonaceous nanomaterials family that possess intrinsic luminescent and therapeutic properties, making them a promising candidate for cancer theranostic. Additionally, nHA is an excellent bioactive material due to its compositional similarity to the human bone matrix. The nHA crystal can efficiently host rare-earth elements to attain luminescent property, which can further be implemented for cancer theranostic applications. Herein, the development of CDs and nHA based nanomaterials as multifunctional agents for cancer has been briefly discussed. The emphasis has been given to different synthesis strategies leading to different morphologies and tunable PL spectra, followed by their diverse applications as biocompatible theranostic agents. Finally, the review has been summarized with the current challenges and future perspectives.