Bio-inspired cisplatin nanocarriers for osteosarcoma treatment

Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Zwitterionic Anti-fouling Materials

Zwitterionic materials with cationic and anionic moieties in the same chain, being electrically neutral, have excellent hydrophilicity, stability, biocompatibility, and outstanding anti-biofouling performance. Because of their unique properties, zwitterionic materials are widely applied to membrane separation, drug delivery, surface coating, etc. However, what is the root of their unique properties? It is necessary to study the structure-property relationships of zwitterionic compounds to guide the design and development of zwitterionic materials. Modeling and simulation methods are considered to be efficient technologies for understanding advanced materials in principle. This Review systematically summarizes the computational exploration of zwitterionic materials in recent years. First, the classes of zwitterionic materials are summarized. Second, the different scale simulation methods are introduced briefly. To reveal the structure-property relationships of zwitterionic materials, multiscale modeling and simulation studies at different spatial and temporal scales are summarized. The study results indicated that the strong electrostatic interaction between zwitterions with water molecules promotes formation of a stable hydration layer, namely, superhydrophilicity, leading to the excellent anti-fouling properties. Finally, we offer our viewpoint on the development and application of simulation techniques on zwitterionic materials exploration in the future. This work establishes a bridge from atomic and molecular scales to mesoscopic and macroscopic scales and helps to provide an in-depth understanding of the structure-property relationships of zwitterionic materials.

Bioanalytical strategies to evaluate cisplatin nanodelivery systems: From synthesis to incorporation in individual cells and biological response

Cisplatin metallodrugs have been widely used in the treatment of multiple cancers over the last years. Nevertheless, its limited effectiveness, development of acquired drug resistances, and toxic effects decrease nowadays their application in clinical settings. Aiming at improving their features, investigations have been oriented towards the coupling of cisplatin to nanocarriers, like liposomes or inorganic nanoparticles. Moreover, these systems can be further developed to allow targeted co-delivery of drugs. In this review, we describe the major nanosystems and the optimal analytical strategies for their assessment. Finally, we describe the main biological effects of these metallodrug conjugates and the available approaches for their study.

Molecular dynamics simulation study of DNA conformation changes caused by the dinuclear platinum(II) complexes with the bisphosphonate group

Bisphosphonate (BP) has been widely used as a bone-targeting group, and the BP-modified platinum(II) complexes have shown potential to as anticancer drugs against bone-related diseases, such as osteosarcoma. DNA conformation changes induced by the BP-modified dinuclear platinum(II) complexes have been investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The results indicated that the BP-modified dinuclear platinum(II) complexes coordinated to DNA results in DNA structural distortions, including twisting, unwinding and bending. Furthermore, the rigidity of the bridging linkers in the BP-modified platinum(II) complex may induce more significant DNA structural distortions with same spans. The results provide the detail information of DNA conformational changes induced by the BP-modified platinum(II) complexes with different flexibility of bridging linkers, and are helpful for exploring novel platinum-based antitumor drugs.

Graphene Oxide Nanoplatforms to Enhance Cisplatin-Based Drug Delivery in Anticancer Therapy

Chemotherapeutics such as platinum-based drugs are commonly used to treat several cancer types, but unfortunately, their use is limited by several side effects, such as high degradation of the drug before entering the cells, off-target organ toxicity and development of drug resistance. An interesting strategy to overcome such limitations is the development of nanocarriers that could enhance cellular accumulation in target cells in addition to decreasing associated drug toxicity in normal cells. Here, we aim to prepare and characterize a graphene-oxide-based 2D nanoplatform functionalised using highly branched, eight-arm polyethylene-glycol, which, owing to its high number of available functional groups, offers considerable loading capacity over its linear modalities and represents a highly potent nanodelivery platform as a versatile system in cancer therapy. The obtained results show that the GO@PEG carrier allows for the use of lower amounts of Pt drug compared to a Pt-free complex while achieving similar effects. The nanoplatform accomplishes very good cellular proliferation inhibition in osteosarcoma, which is strictly related to increased cellular uptake. This enhanced cellular internalization is also observed in glioblastoma, although it is less pronounced due to differences in metabolism compared to osteosarcoma. The proposed GO@PEG nanoplatform is also promising for the inhibition of migration, especially in highly invasive breast carcinoma (i.e., MDA-MB-231 cell line), neutralizing the metastatic process. The GO@PEG nanoplatform thus represents an interesting tool in cancer treatment that can be specifically tailored to target different cancers.

Overcoming therapeutic failure in osteosarcoma via Apatinib-encapsulated hydrophobic poly(ester amide) nanoparticles

Anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been proved to be effective in prolonging progression-free survival in advanced osteosarcoma. However, osteosarcoma stem-like cells persist for a long time and ultimately cause disease recurrence and therapy resistance. Here, we reveal that inefficient accumulation of Apatinib, an anti-angiogenic TKI, induces the expression of ribosome-associated genes in osteosarcoma, and confers apoptosis resistance. An engineered nanoscale delivery system based on hydrophobic poly(ester amide) has been established to effectively deliver Apatinib to improve the treatment. Notably, the considerable uptake by osteosarcoma cells enables this nanodrug to distribute increasingly inside the tumor. Furthermore, the delivered nano-Apatinib can suppress osteosarcoma stemness and enhance osteosarcoma stem-like cell apoptosis, and overcomes the crucial bottleneck of the unfavorable stem-like cell residue for TKI therapy. Importantly, nano-Apatinib significantly inhibits the osteosarcoma stem-like cell-derived tumor growth in contrast with free Apatinib, with minimal side effects. These results suggest that this Apatinib-loaded nano delivery system may serve as a promising strategy to solve the issue of TKI therapeutic resistance existing in advanced osteosarcoma.

pH responsible and fluorescent Cy5.5-PEG-g-A-HA/CDDP complex nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and application for targeted drug delivery

Clinical application of cisplatin (CDDP) against various solid tumors is often limited due to its poor selectivity and severe side effect. Considering this, in our study, CDDP was incorporated in fluorescent PEG amine grafted aldehyde hyaluronic acid by imine bond and metal ion coordination bond linking and formed a complex, the complex was then self-assembled into nanoparticles in water simply. FT-IR, XRD, DLS and SEM analysis demonstrated that the nanoparticles were prepared successfully and exhibited a spherical structure with size ranged from 216.4 to 372.3 nm in diameter. CDDP releasing from the nanoparticles was in a controlled manner, and had faster release rate at lower pH, indicating the nanoparticles were responsive to tumor micro-acid environment. Since fluorescent Cy5.5 and targeting hyaluronic acid existed on the surface of the nanoparticles, CLSM images clearly showed that the nanoparticles could target and internalize into HeLa cells, and then inhibited the growth of HeLa cells. In addition, MTT, AO-EB staining, and hemolysis assay showed that the nanoparticles had good cyto-/hemo-compatibility. Hence, the nanoparticles had the potential to be used for cancer therapy and diagnosis. The further in vivo experiment will be shown in the next work. pH responsible and fluorescent Cy5.5-PEG-g-A-HA/CDDP complex nanoparticles were facilely fabricated for controlled and targeted delivery of CDDP.

GE11-PDA-Pt@USPIOs nano-formulation for relief of tumor hypoxia and MRI/PAI-guided tumor radio-chemotherapy

GE11-PDA-Pt@USPIOs can relieve tumor hypoxic conditions efficiently and are highly effective for radio-chemotherapy of EGFR-positive tumors.

DNA–affibody nanoparticle delivery system for cisplatin-based breast cancer chemotherapy

Cisplatin is the most widely used anticancer drug, but its side effects limit the maximum systemic dose. To circumvent the side effects, a DNA tetrahedron–affibody nanoparticle was prepared by combination of a DNA chain with cisplatin via interstrand crosslinks or adducts. Each nanocarrier can bind ∼68 molecules of cisplatin. This cisplatin nanoparticle exhibited high selectivity and inhibition for breast cancer HER2 overexpressing cells BT474 and lower toxicity in MCF-7 cells with low HER2 expression. The nano-drug inhibited the growth of BT474 cells by 94.57% at 512 nM (containing 33.3 μM cisplatin), which was higher than that of cisplatin (82.9%, 33.3 μM).

The novel nano-drug cisplatin-DNA tetrahedron-affibody has high specificity, high efficacy, and low toxicity for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancers.

Nanotechnology in orthopedics: a clinically oriented review

The utility of nanotechnology in medicine, specifically within the field of orthopedics, is a topic of extensive research. Our review provides a unique comprehensive overview of the current and potential future uses of nanotechnology with respect to orthopedic sub-specialties. Nanotechnology offers an immense assortment of novel applications, most notably the use of nanomaterials as scaffolds to induce a more favorable interaction between orthopedic implants and native bone. Nanotechnology has the capability to revolutionize the diagnostics and treatment of orthopedic surgery, however the long-term health effects of nanomaterials are poorly understood and extensive research is needed regarding clinical safety.

Encapsulation of cisplatin in a pegylated calcium phosphate nanoparticle (CPNP) for enhanced cytotoxicity to cancerous cells

HYPOTHESIS

Exchange of the chloride ion (Cl^-) ligands of cisplatin with carboxylates is widely used in fabricating cisplatin loaded nanoparticles for improved cancer therapy. However, the dynamic exchange may cause premature cisplatin release and even disintegration of the nanoparticles in Cl^--containing medium such as in plasma. Molecules bearing carboxylates are capable of mediating the mineralization process of calcium phosphate; therefore, it is possible to overcome the disadvantage by sequestering cisplatin in a calcium phosphate nanoparticle (CPNP).

EXPERIMENTS

With the hypothesis, precipitation reaction of calcium nitrate and disodium hydrogen phosphate was performed in a solution of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(acrylic acid) block copolymers with their carboxylates partly conjugated with cisplatin. Then, structure, physicochemical properties, and bioactivity of the product were carefully investigated with multiple characterization methods.

FINDINGS

It was revealed a pegylated, cisplatin encapsulated CPNP was prepared; and with appropriate mole ratio of cisplatin to carboxylates, the nanoparticle encapsulated cisplatin efficiently (>90%), was stable and almost entirely prevented the cisplatin release in Cl^--containing medium at pH 7.4 but released them in an acidic condition, and showed moderately and greatly enhanced cytotoxicities to the lung cancer cell line A549 and its cisplatin resistance form A549R respectively in comparison with the free cisplatin.

Phosphatase-triggered cell-selective release of a Pt(iv)-backboned prodrug-like polymer for an improved therapeutic index

A Pt(iv)-backboned prodrug-like polymer was synthesized and formulated to a phosphatase-responsive polyion complex for cell-selective delivery.