Folate-modified hydroxyapatite nanorods induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through a mitochondrial-dependent pathway

Synthesis, Characterization, and Investigation of Doxorubicin Drug Release Properties of Poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic Acid/Maleic Acid)-Hydroxyapatite Composite Hydrogel

BACKGROUND

Hydroxyapatite and its derivatives have been used for a lot of applications. One of them is drug release studies. Due to its low adhesion strength and lack of the strength and durability required for load-carrying applications, there is a need to improve the properties of hydroxyapatite. For this aim, the most important factors are increasing pH sensitivity and preventing coagulation. Mixing it with multifunctional polymers is the best solution.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives are: 1- preparing poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid/maleic acid)- hydroxyapatite (PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt), 2- assessment of (PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt) and dox-loaded poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid/maleic acid) (Dox-(PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt)) composite hydrogels, and 3- elucidating the difference in behavior of drug release studies between hydroxyapatite (HApt) and poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid/maleic acid) composite hydrogels.

METHODS

A composite of PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt was prepared by direct polymerization of acrylamide-co-acrylic acid/maleic acid in a suspension of HApt. The drug loading and release features of PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt and HApt were then investigated for doxorubicin (dox) release. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTA), this unique composite hydrogel has been physicochemically investigated. Also, a colorimetric assay was used to assess the in vitro biocompatible support and anticancer activity of HApt and the newly developed composite hydrogel XTT (2,3-Bis-(2-Methoxy-4-Nitro-5-Sulfophenyl)-2H-Tetrazolium-5-Carboxanilide) assay.

RESULTS

According to the results of drug release studies of this new material, it is pH sensitive, and PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt demonstrated a faster release than HApt at 37°C in the acidic solution of pH 4.5 than in the neutral solution of pH 7.4. The XTT assay outcomes also demonstrated the biocompatibility of PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt and HApt and the cytotoxic effect of dox-loaded PAm-co-PAA/PMA-HApt.

CONCLUSION

It should be inferred that the drug release profile was improved at pH 4.5 by the newly produced pH-sensitive composite hydrogel.

The Cytotoxicity of Carbon Nanotubes and Hydroxyapatite, and Graphene and Hydroxyapatite Nanocomposites against Breast Cancer Cells

Cancer is a current dreadful disease and the leading cause of death. Next to cardiovascular diseases, cancer is the most severe threat to human life and health. Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer diagnosed in women. Each year about 2.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer. In consideration of the severity of breast cancer, herein we designed the biocompatible nanomaterials, CNTs-HAP and GR-HAP, through grafting of hydroxyapatite (HAP) to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene (GR) nanosheets. CNTs-HAP and GR-HAP have been tested for their cytotoxicity, growth and motility inhibitory effects, and their effects on the mesenchymal markers. All these demonstrated significant dose-dependent and time-dependent in vitro cytotoxicity against SUM-159 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The cell viability assay showed that the CNTs-HAP was more effective over SUM-159 cells than MCF-7 cells. It found that the increase in the concentration of GR-HAP has inhibited the clonogenic ability of breast cancer cells. The GR-HAP exhibited a substantial inhibitory effect on the cell motility of SUM-159 cell lines. It was investigated that the expression of vimentin (mesenchymal marker) was majorly reduced in SUM-159 cells by GR-HAP.

Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles for Improved Cancer Theranostics

Beyond their well-known applications in bone tissue engineering, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAp NPs) have also been showing great promise for improved cancer therapy. The chemical structure of HAp NPs offers excellent possibilities for loading and delivering a broad range of anticancer drugs in a sustained, prolonged, and targeted manner and thus eliciting lower complications than conventional chemotherapeutic strategies. The incorporation of specific therapeutic elements into the basic composition of HAp NPs is another approach, alone or synergistically with drug release, to provide advanced anticancer effects such as the capability to inhibit the growth and metastasis of cancer cells through activating specific cell signaling pathways. HAp NPs can be easily converted to smart anticancer agents by applying different surface modification treatments to facilitate the targeting and killing of cancer cells without significant adverse effects on normal healthy cells. The applications in cancer diagnosis for magnetic and nuclear in vivo imaging are also promising as the detection of solid tumor cells is now achievable by utilizing superparamagnetic HAp NPs. The ongoing research emphasizes the use of HAp NPs in fabricating three-dimensional scaffolds for the treatment of cancerous tissues or organs, promoting the regeneration of healthy tissue after cancer detection and removal. This review provides a summary of HAp NP applications in cancer theranostics, highlighting the current limitations and the challenges ahead for this field to open new avenues for research.

Quercetin-Loaded Luminescent Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles for Theranostic Application in Monolayer and Spheroid Cultures of Cervical Cancer Cell Line In Vitro

Nanoscale materials have been explored as better alternatives to conventional therapeutic agents in cancer theranostics in the recent period due to efficacy in overcoming biological, biomedical, and biophysical barriers. Analysis on the ability of copper nanocluster (CuNC)-doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (Cu-HXNPs) as suitable nanocarriers for anticell proliferative application was carried out. Having high adsorption capacity, the Cu-HXNPs could be loaded with the anticancer drug quercetin, which is a polyphenolic flavonoid compound, and were used as nanocarriers to be applied on HeLa (cancer cells) and HEK-293 (normal cells). The drug release profile was found to be pH-dependent, where maximum release of quercetin from quercetin-loaded Cu-HXNPs was observed in acidic pH as compared to physiological pH. The Cu-HXNPs could release quercetin, which could effectively decline proliferation of cancer cells via generation of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, the released quercetin significantly altered the cell cycle pattern and triggered the cells to undergo apoptosis. Additionally, the efficacy of Cu-HXNPs as a nanocarrier to release quercetin on 3D spheroids of HeLa had been checked, which demonstrated significant reduction in the viability of 3D spheroids. The luminescent CuNCs used for doping HXNPs endowed the nanocarrier with the imaging property, which was an excellent feature in confirming their uptake by the cells. Thus, the study suggested Cu-HXNPs to be a beneficial nanocarrier for both bioimaging and therapeutic purpose in the field of cancer theranostics.

Preparation of ROS active and photothermal responsive hydroxyapatite nanoplatforms for anticancer therapy

Photothermal responsive nanoplatforms are attracting for photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer. Herein, we propose a strategy to prepare IR-780 modified hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanorods as photothermic agents (HAP@IR-780). The results demonstrated that the obtained HAP@IR-780 was photothermal responsive under near-infrared laser irradiation the photothermal conversion efficiency was 69.3%, and it remained photostability after 4 cycles of irradiation. This advantage overcomes the optical instability of IR780. MTT and cellular uptake research proved that HAP@IR-780 was biocompatible in appropriate concentration range (0-20 μg/mL) without laser irradiation. Concentration-dependent internalization and reactive oxygen species (ROS) related apoptosis of HAP@IR-780 for MCF-7 cells were observed. Animal experiments showed that the gathered HAP@IR-780 at the tumor site reached a photothermal responsive temperature up to 57.9 °C, which could almost ablate the tumor with volumes as large as 1500 mm³. In general, our photothermal material has good photothermal conversion characteristics, and may have the least safety problems while showing excellent therapeutic effects. Therefore, HAP@IR-780 has a brilliant prospect in the field of tumor photothermal therapy.

Dialysis Preparation of Smart Redox and Acidity Dual Responsive Tea Polyphenol Functionalized Calcium Phosphate Nanospheres as Anticancer Drug Carriers

Large-scale preparation of biocompatible drug delivery systems with targeted recognition and controlled release properties has always been attractive. However, this strategy has been constrained by a lot of design challenges, such as complicated steps and premature drug release. Herein, in this paper, we address these problems by a facile in situ mineralization method, which synthesizes biodegradable tea polyphenol coated monodisperse calcium phosphate nanospheres using for targeted and controlled delivery of doxorubicin. Dialysis diffusion method was used to control ion release to form mineralized nanospheres. The polyphenol coatings and calcium phosphate used in this work could be biodegraded by intracellular glutathione and acidic microenvironment, respectively, resulting the release of encapsulated drug. According to confocal fluorescence microscopy, and cytotoxicity experiments, the prepared tea polyphenol functionalized, doxorubicin loaded calcium phosphate nanospheres were confirmed to have highly efficient internalization and obvious cell killing effect on target tumor cells, but not normal cells. Our results suggest that these tea polyphenols functionalized calcium phosphate nanospheres are promising vehicles for controlled release of an anticancer drug in cancer therapy.

Design and synthesis of aptamer AS1411-conjugated EG@TiO2@Fe2O3nanoparticles as a drug delivery platform for tumor-targeted therapy

AS1411@GMBS@EG@TiO₂@Fe₂O₃nanoparticle is an effective and safe pH-responsive sustained release system for targeted drug delivery into nucleolin-positive cells.