Re-exposure of chitosan by an inhalable microsphere providing the re-education of TAMs for lung cancer treatment with assistant from sustained H2S generation

The re-education of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) is an effective strategy to inhibit the growth and metastasis of lung cancer. We have reported that chitosan could re-educate the TAMs and then inhibit cancer metastasis; however, the re-exposure of chitosan from the chemical corona on their surface is critical for this effect. In this study, a strategy was proposed to re-expose the chitosan from chemical corona, and a sustained H2S generation was applied to enhance the immunotherapy of chitosan. To achieve this objective, an inhalable microsphere (namely F/Fm) was designed, which could be degraded by the matrix metalloproteinase in lung cancer, releasing two kinds of nanoparticles; in an external magnetic field, these nanoparticles can aggregate with each other, and β-cyclodextrin on the surface of one nanoparticle can be hydrolyzed by amylase on the surface of another nanoparticle, leading to the re-exposure of chitosan in the inner layer of β-cyclodextrin and the release of diallyl trisulfide for H2S generation. In vitro, the expression of CD86 and secretion of TNF-α by TAMs was increased by F/Fm, proving the re-education of TAMs, and the apoptosis of A549 cells was promoted with the migration and invasion being inhibited. In the Lewis lung carcinoma-bearing mouse, the F/Fm re-educated the TAMs and provided a sustained generation of H2S in the region of lung cancer, effectively inhibiting the growth and metastasis of lung cancer cells. This work provides a new strategy for the treatment of lung cancer in combination of re-education of TAMs by chitosan and the adjuvant chemotherapy by H2S.

Human Albumin Fragments Nanoparticles as PTX Carrier for Improved Anti-cancer Efficacy

For enhanced anti-cancer performance, human serum albumin fragments (HSAFs) nanoparticles (NPs) were developed as paclitaxel (PTX) carrier in this paper. Human albumins were broken into fragments via degradation and crosslinked by genipin to form HSAF NPs for better biocompatibility, improved PTX drug loading and sustained drug release. Compared with crosslinked human serum albumin NPs, the HSAF-NPs showed relative smaller particle size, higher drug loading, and improved sustained release. Cellular and animal results both indicated that the PTX encapsulated HSAF-NPs have shown good anti-cancer performance. And the anticancer results confirmed that NPs with fast cellular internalization showed better tumor inhibition. These findings will not only provide a safe and robust drug delivery NP platform for cancer therapy, but also offer fundamental information for the optimal design of albumin based NPs.

Encapsulation of honokiol-loaded nanoparticles in lecithin microbubbles for targeted tumor therapy

This study aimed to develop a new drug delivery system that combines honokiol-loaded albumin nanoparticles (HKNs) with perfluorocarbon-filled microbubbles (MBs) to improve the target delivery of honokiol (HK).