Targeted therapy of atherosclerosis by zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanoparticles loaded with losartan potassium via simultaneous lipid-scavenging and anti-inflammation

Current targeting strategies and advanced nanoplatforms for atherosclerosis therapy

Atherosclerosis is one of the major causes of death worldwide, and it is closely related to many cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, myocardial infraction and angina. Although traditional surgical and pharmacological interventions can effectively retard or slow down the progression of atherosclerosis, it is very difficult to prevent or even reverse this disease. In recent years, with the rapid development of nanotechnology, various nanoagents have been designed and applied to different diseases including atherosclerosis. The unique atherosclerotic microenvironment with signature biological components allows nanoplatforms to distinguish atherosclerotic lesions from normal tissue and to approach plaques specifically. Based on the process of atherosclerotic plaque formation, this review summarises the nanodrug delivery strategies for atherosclerotic therapy, trying to provide help for researchers to understand the existing atherosclerosis management approaches as well as challenges and to reasonably design anti-atherosclerotic nanoplatforms.

Recent Advancement of Indocyanine Green Based Nanotheranostics for Imaging and Therapy of Coronary Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a vascular intima condition in which any part of the circulatory system is affected, including the aorta and coronary arteries. Indocyanine green (ICG), a theranostic compound approved by the FDA, has shown promise in the treatment of coronary atherosclerosis after incorporation into nanoplatforms. By integration of ICG with targeting agents such as peptides or antibodies, it is feasible to increase its concentration in damaged arteries, hence increasing atherosclerosis detection. Nanotheranostics offers cutting-edge techniques for the clinical diagnosis and therapy of atherosclerotic plaques. Combining the optical properties of ICG with those of nanocarriers enables the improved imaging of atherosclerotic plaques and targeted therapeutic interventions. Several ICG-based nanotheranostics platforms have been developed such as polymeric nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticles, biomimetic systems, liposomes, peptide-based systems, etc. Theranostics for atherosclerosis diagnosis use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging, photoacoustic/ultrasound imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging techniques. In addition to imaging, there is growing interest in employing ICG to treat atherosclerosis. In this review, we provide a conceptual explanation of ICG-based nanotheranostics for the imaging and therapy of coronary atherosclerosis. Moreover, advancements in imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, PET, SPECT, and ultrasound/photoacoustic have been discussed. Furthermore, we highlight the applications of ICG for coronary atherosclerosis.

Bioactive Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Distinctive Platform to Diagnosis and Treat Vascular Diseases

Vascular diseases (VDs) pose the leading threat worldwide due to high morbidity and mortality. The detection of VDs is commonly dependent on individual signs, which limits the accuracy and timeliness of therapies, especially for asymptomatic patients in clinical management. Therefore, more effective early diagnosis and lesion-targeted treatments remain a pressing clinical need. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials formed by the coordination of inorganic metal ions and organic ligands. Due to their unique high specific surface area, structural flexibility, and functional versatility, MOFs are recognized as highly promising candidates for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the field of VDs. In this review, the potential of MOFs to act as biosensors, contrast agents, artificial nanozymes, and multifunctional therapeutic agents in the diagnosis and treatment of VDs from the clinical perspective, highlighting the integration between clinical methods with MOFs is generalized. At the same time, multidisciplinary cooperation from chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine to promote the substantial commercial transformation of MOFs in tackling VDs is called for.

Harnessing anti-inflammatory pathways and macrophage nano delivery to treat inflammatory and fibrotic disorders

Targeting specific organs and cell types using nanotechnology and sophisticated delivery methods has been at the forefront of applicative biomedical sciences lately. Macrophages are an appealing target for immunomodulation by nanodelivery as they are heavily involved in various aspects of many diseases and are highly plastic in their nature. Their continuum of functional "polarization" states has been a research focus for many years yielding a profound understanding of various aspects of these cells. The ability of monocyte-derived macrophages to metamorphose from pro-inflammatory to reparative and consequently to pro-resolving effectors has raised significant interest in its therapeutic potential. Here, we briefly survey macrophages' ontogeny and various polarization phenotypes, highlighting their function in the inflammation-resolution shift. We review their inducing mediators, signaling pathways, and biological programs with emphasis on the nucleic acid sensing-IFN-I axis. We also portray the polarization spectrum of macrophages and the characteristics of their transition between different subtypes. Finally, we highlighted different current drug delivery methods for targeting macrophages with emphasis on nanotargeting that might lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of wound healing, bone regeneration, autoimmune, and fibrotic diseases.

Multifunctional nanoparticle-mediated combining therapy for human diseases

Combining existing drug therapy is essential in developing new therapeutic agents in disease prevention and treatment. In preclinical investigations, combined effect of certain known drugs has been well established in treating extensive human diseases. Attributed to synergistic effects by targeting various disease pathways and advantages, such as reduced administration dose, decreased toxicity, and alleviated drug resistance, combinatorial treatment is now being pursued by delivering therapeutic agents to combat major clinical illnesses, such as cancer, atherosclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, myocarditis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Combinatorial therapy involves combining or co-delivering two or more drugs for treating a specific disease. Nanoparticle (NP)-mediated drug delivery systems, i.e., liposomal NPs, polymeric NPs and nanocrystals, are of great interest in combinatorial therapy for a wide range of disorders due to targeted drug delivery, extended drug release, and higher drug stability to avoid rapid clearance at infected areas. This review summarizes various targets of diseases, preclinical or clinically approved drug combinations and the development of multifunctional NPs for combining therapy and emphasizes combinatorial therapeutic strategies based on drug delivery for treating severe clinical diseases. Ultimately, we discuss the challenging of developing NP-codelivery and translation and provide potential approaches to address the limitations. This review offers a comprehensive overview for recent cutting-edge and challenging in developing NP-mediated combination therapy for human diseases.

Exogeneous metal ions as therapeutic agents in cardiovascular disease and their delivery strategies

Metal ions participate in many metabolic processes in the human body, and their homeostasis is crucial for life. In cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the equilibriums of metal ions are frequently interrupted, which are related to a variety of disturbances of physiological processes leading to abnormal cardiac functions. Exogenous supplement of metal ions has the potential to work as therapeutic strategies for the treatment of CVDs. Compared with other therapeutic drugs, metal ions possess broad availability, good stability and safety and diverse drug delivery strategies. The delivery strategies of metal ions are important to exert their therapeutic effects and reduce the potential toxic side effects for cardiovascular applications, which are also receiving increasing attention. Controllable local delivery strategies for metal ions based on various biomaterials are constantly being designed. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the positive roles of metal ions in the treatment of CVDs from three aspects: protecting cells from oxidative stress, inducing angiogenesis, and adjusting the functions of ion channels. In addition, we introduced the transferability of metal ions in vascular reconstruction and cardiac tissue repair, as well as the currently available engineered strategies for the precise delivery of metal ions, such as integrated with nanoparticles, hydrogels and scaffolds.

N-acetyl-L-cysteine attenuated the toxicity of ZIF-8 on EA.hy926 endothelial cells by wnt/β-catenin pathway

As kinds of porous crystalline compounds, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) have been developed quickly and attracted considerable attention for use in nano drug delivery systems, which raised concerns about cardiovascular disorders. At the present, the cytotoxic mechanism of ZIFs in cardiovascular disorders was still unclear. Our experiment explored the toxicity of ZIF-8, a typical kind of ZIFs, on human EA.hy926 vascular endothelial cells. The cell viability, ROS formation, apoptosis level, inflammatory response level, wound healing ability and atherosclerosis-related indicators of EA.hy926 endothelial cells were analyzed after ZIF-8 treatment. Meanwhile, we evaluated the ability of antioxidant N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) to attenuate the toxicity of ZIF-8 on EA.hy926 endothelial cells. As results, NAC attenuated ROS formation, cell apoptosis, LDH formation and endothelial dysfunction caused by ZIF-8. As the Wnt/β-catenin pathway was involved in endothelial cell dysfunction, we also studied the expression level of β-catenin and LEF1 in ZIF-8 and/or NAC treated EA.hy926 cells. As expected, ZIF-8 increased the protein expressions of β-catenin and LEF1in the IC50 group, which was significantly inhibited by co-treatment with NAC. Taken together, this study could help improve our understanding about the mechanism of ZIF-8-induced endothelial cells injury and NAC had therapeutic potential in preventing ZIF-8-associated endothelial dysfunction by wnt/β-catenin pathway.