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Pinho JO, Matias M, Godinho-Santos A, Amaral JD, Mendes E, Jesus Perry M, Paula Francisco A, Rodrigues CMP, Manuela Gaspar M. A step forward on the in vitro and in vivo assessment of a novel nanomedicine against melanoma. Int J Pharm 2023; 640:123011. [PMID: 37146952 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, with increasing incidence and mortality rates. To overcome current treatment limitations, a hybrid molecule (HM) combining a triazene and a ʟ-tyrosine analogue, was recently synthesized, incorporated in long blood circulating liposomes (LIP HM) and validated in an immunocompetent melanoma model. The present work constitutes a step forward in the therapeutic assessment of HM formulations. Here, human melanoma cells, A375 and MNT-1, were used and dacarbazine (DTIC), a triazene drug clinically available as first-line treatment for melanoma, constituted the positive control. In cell cycle analysis, A375 cells, after 24-h incubation with HM (60 μM) and DTIC (70 μM), resulted in a 1.2 fold increase (related to control) in the percentage of cells in G0/G1 phase. The therapeutic activity was evaluated in a human murine melanoma model (subcutaneously injected with A375 cells) to most closely resemble the human pathology. Animals treated with LIP HM exhibited the highest antimelanoma effect resulting in a 6-, 5- and 4-fold reduction on tumor volume compared to negative control, Free HM and DTIC groups, respectively. No toxic side effects were detected. Overall, these results constitute another step forward in the validation of the antimelanoma activity of LIP HM, using a murine model that more accurately simulates the pathology that occurs in human patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacinta O Pinho
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Mariana Matias
- CICS-UBI-Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
| | - Ana Godinho-Santos
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Joana D Amaral
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Eduarda Mendes
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Maria Jesus Perry
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Ana Paula Francisco
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Cecília M P Rodrigues
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - M Manuela Gaspar
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
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Pinho JO, Matias M, Marques V, Eleutério C, Fernandes C, Gano L, Amaral JD, Mendes E, Perry MJ, Moreira JN, Storm G, Francisco AP, Rodrigues CMP, Gaspar MM. Preclinical validation of a new hybrid molecule loaded in liposomes for melanoma management. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 157:114021. [PMID: 36399831 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.114021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The aggressiveness of melanoma and lack of effective therapies incite the discovery of novel strategies. Recently, a new dual acting hybrid molecule (HM), combining a triazene and a ʟ-tyrosine analogue, was synthesized. HM was designed to specifically be activated by tyrosinase, the enzyme involved in melanin biosynthesis and overexpressed in melanoma. HM displayed remarkable superior antiproliferative activity towards various cancer cell lines compared with temozolomide (TMZ), a triazene drug in clinical use, that acts through DNA alkylation. In B16-F10 cells, HM induced a cell cycle arrest at phase G0/G1 with a 2.8-fold decrease in cell proliferation index. Also, compared to control cells, HM led to a concentration-dependent reduction in tyrosinase activity and increase in caspase 3/7 activity. To maximize the therapeutic performance of HM in vivo, its incorporation in long blood circulating liposomes, containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) at their surface, was performed for passively targeting tumour sites. HM liposomes (LIP HM) exhibited high stability in biological fluids. Preclinical studies demonstrated its safety for systemic administration and in a subcutaneous murine melanoma model, significantly reduced tumour progression. In a metastatic murine melanoma model, a superior antitumour effect was also observed for mice receiving LIP HM, with markedly reduction of lung metastases compared to positive control group (TMZ). Biodistribution studies using 111In-labelled LIP HM demonstrated its ability for passively targeting tumour sites, thus correlating with the high therapeutic effect observed in the two experimental murine melanoma models. Overall, our proposed nanotherapeutic strategy was validated as an effective and safe alternative against melanoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacinta O Pinho
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Mariana Matias
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Vanda Marques
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Carla Eleutério
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Célia Fernandes
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares and Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Bobadela LRS, Portugal
| | - Lurdes Gano
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares and Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Bobadela LRS, Portugal
| | - Joana D Amaral
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Eduarda Mendes
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Maria Jesus Perry
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - João Nuno Moreira
- Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC), Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), University of Coimbra, Faculty of Medicine (Polo 1), Rua Larga, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal; University of Coimbra (Univ Coimbra), CIBB, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Gert Storm
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Biomaterial Science and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands; Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore
| | - Ana Paula Francisco
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Cecília M P Rodrigues
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M Manuela Gaspar
- Research Institute for Medicines, iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
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Molecular Events in the Melanogenesis Cascade as Novel Melanoma-Targeted Small Molecules: Principle and Development. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14225588. [PMID: 36428680 PMCID: PMC9688330 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14225588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Malignant melanoma is one of the most malignant of all cancers. Melanoma occurs at the epidermo-dermal interface of the skin and mucosa, where small vessels and lymphatics are abundant. Consequently, from the onset of the disease, melanoma easily metastasizes to other organs throughout the body via lymphatic and blood circulation. At present, the most effective treatment method is surgical resection, and other attempted methods, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and gene therapy, have not yet produced sufficient results. Since melanogenesis is a unique biochemical pathway that functions only in melanocytes and their neoplastic counterparts, melanoma cells, the development of drugs that target melanogenesis is a promising area of research. Melanin consists of small-molecule derivatives that are always synthesized by melanoma cells. Amelanosis reflects the macroscopic visibility of color changes (hypomelanosis). Under microscopy, melanin pigments and their precursors are present in amelanotic melanoma cells. Tumors can be easily targeted by small molecules that chemically mimic melanogenic substrates. In addition, small-molecule melanin metabolites are toxic to melanocytes and melanoma cells and can kill them. This review describes our development of chemo-thermo-immunotherapy based on the synthesis of melanogenesis-based small-molecule derivatives and conjugation to magnetite nanoparticles. We also introduce the other melanogenesis-related chemotherapy and thermal medicine approaches and discuss currently introduced targeted therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors for unresectable/metastatic melanoma.
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Matos MJ, Blanco MJ. Medicinal Chemistry in Portugal and Spain: A Strong Iberian Alliance. ACS Med Chem Lett 2022; 13:871-872. [PMID: 35707154 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.2c00194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Maria João Matos
- University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal.,University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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