Seleno-short-chain chitosan induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells through mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in vitro

Chitosan in cancer therapy: a dual role as a therapeutic agent and drug delivery system

Although chemotherapy is still the most preferred treatment for cancer, most chemotherapeutic agents target both cancer cells and healthy cells and cause serious side effects due to high toxicity. Improved drug delivery systems (DDSs), which enhance the efficacy of current chemotherapeutic drugs while reducing their toxicity, offer potential solutions to these challenges. Chitosan (CS) and its derivatives are biopolymers with biodegradable, biocompatible, and low-toxicity properties, and their structure allows for convenient chemical and mechanical modifications. In its role as a therapeutic agent, CS can impede the proliferation of tumor cells through the inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis, as well as by triggering apoptosis. CS and its derivatives are also frequently preferred as DDSs due to their properties such as high drug-carrying capacity, polycationic structure, long-term circulation, and direct targeting of cancer cells. Various therapeutic agents linked to CS and its derivatives demonstrate potent anticancer effects with advantages such as reduced side effects compared to the original drugs, owing to factors like targeted distribution within cancer tissues and sustained release. This review emphasizes the utilization of CS and its derivatives, both as therapeutic agents and as carriers for established chemotherapeutic drugs.

Chitosan-encapsulated nickel oxide, tin dioxide, and farnesol nanoparticles: Antimicrobial and anticancer properties in breast cancer cells

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women; however, it is curable in most cases (up to 80 %) when detected and treated at an early non-metastatic stage. Nanotechnology has led to the development of potential chemotherapeutic techniques, particularly for tumor treatment. Nanotechnology has therapeutic and pharmaceutical applications. Chitosan, a natural polymer derived from chitin, has been extensively studied for its potential applications in a wide range of fields. This includes medicine for its anticancer properties. In the present study, Chitosan-encapsulated-NiO-TiO2-Farnesol hybrid nanomaterials (CNTF HNMs) were synthesized and characterized using several techniques, including electron microscopy (TEM, FE-SEM), spectroscopy (UV-visible [UV-Vis], Fourier Transform Infrared [FT-IR] spectroscopy, and photoluminescence [PL]), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) composition analysis, X-ray diffraction, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses. With an estimated average crystallite size of 34.8 nm, the face-cantered cubic crystalline structure of the CNTF HNMs is identified. Cell viability assay by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide), DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining, dual AO/EtBr (Acridine Orange/ Ethidium bromide), JC-1 (5,5,6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3' tetraethylbenzimi-dazoylcarbocyanine iodide), DCFH-DA (Dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate), Annexin V-FITC (Fluorescein isothiocyanate) /PI (Propidium Iodide), and cell cycle study was used to assess the ability of nanoparticles (NPs) to kill MDA-MB-231 cells. The CNTF HNMs had high antibacterial effectiveness against multi-drug resistant extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL)-producing gram-negative bacterial pathogens and reference strains. The findings suggest that NPs increased the number of reactive oxygen species (ROS), changed the Δψm, and initiated apoptosis. There is enormous potential for CNTF HNMs as both antibacterial and anticancer agents.

Chitosan-Based Nano-Smart Drug Delivery System in Breast Cancer Therapy

Despite recent advances, cancer remains the primary killer on a global scale. Numerous forms of research have been conducted to discover novel and efficient anticancer medications. The complexity of breast cancer is a major challenge which is coupled with patient-to-patient variations and heterogeneity between cells within the tumor. Revolutionary drug delivery is expected to provide a solution to that challenge. Chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) have prospects as a revolutionary delivery system capable of enhancing anticancer drug activity and reducing negative impacts on normal cells. The use of smart drug delivery systems (SDDs) as delivering materials to improve the bioactivity of NPs and to understand the intricacies of breast cancer has garnered significant interest. There are many reviews about CSNPs that present various points of view, but they have not yet described a series in cancer therapy from cell uptake to cell death. With this description, we will provide a more complete picture for designing preparations for SDDs. This review describes CSNPs as SDDSs, enhancing cancer therapy targeting and stimulus response using their anticancer mechanism. Multimodal chitosan SDDs as targeting and stimulus response medication delivery will improve therapeutic results.

Marine Compounds, Mitochondria, and Malignancy: A Therapeutic Nexus

The marine environment is important yet generally underexplored. It contains new sources of functional constituents that can affect various pathways in food processing, storage, and fortification. Bioactive secondary metabolites produced by marine microorganisms may have significant potential applications for humans. Various components isolated from disparate marine microorganisms, including fungi, microalgae, bacteria, and myxomycetes, showed considerable biological effects, such as anticancer, antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, and neuroprotective activities. Growing studies are revealing that potential anticancer effects of marine agents could be achieved through the modulation of several organelles. Mitochondria are known organelles that influence growth, differentiation, and death of cells via influencing the biosynthetic, bioenergetic, and various signaling pathways related to oxidative stress and cellular metabolism. Consequently, mitochondria play an essential role in tumorigenesis and cancer treatments by adapting to alterations in environmental and cellular conditions. The growing interest in marine-derived anticancer agents, combined with the development and progression of novel technology in the extraction and cultures of marine life, led to revelations of new compounds with meaningful pharmacological applications. This is the first critical review on marine-derived anticancer agents that have the potential for targeting mitochondrial function during tumorigenesis. This study aims to provide promising strategies in cancer prevention and treatment.

Recent Advances in Chitosan and its Derivatives in Cancer Treatment

Cancer has become a main public health issue globally. The conventional treatment measures for cancer include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Among the various available treatment measures, chemotherapy is still one of the most important treatments for most cancer patients. However, chemotherapy for most cancers still faces many problems associated with a lot of adverse effects, which limit its therapeutic potency, low survival quality and discount cancer prognosis. In order to decrease these side effects and improve treatment effectiveness and patient’s compliance, more targeted treatments are needed. Sustainable and controlled deliveries of drugs with controllable toxicities are expected to address these hurdles. Chitosan is the second most abundant natural polysaccharide, which has excellent biocompatibility and notable antitumor activity. Its biodegradability, biocompatibility, biodistribution, nontoxicity and immunogenicity free have made chitosan become a widely used polymer in the pharmacology, especially in oncotherapy. Here, we make a brief review of the main achievements in chitosan and its derivatives in pharmacology with a special focus on their agents delivery applications, immunomodulation, signal pathway modulation and antitumor activity to highlight their role in cancer treatment. Despite a large number of successful studies, the commercialization of chitosan copolymers is still a big challenge. The further development of polymerization technology may satisfy the unmet medical needs.

Effects of chitosan and oligochitosans on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-AKT pathway in cancer therapy

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT pathway is one of the most important kinase signaling networks in the context of cancer development and treatment. Aberrant activation of AKT, the central mediator of this pathway, has been implicated in numerous malignancies including endometrial, hepatocellular, breast, colorectal, prostate, and, cervical cancer. Thus regulation and blockage of this kinase and its key target nodes is an attractive approach in cancer therapy and diverse efforts have been done to achieve this aim. Chitosan is a carbohydrate with multiple interesting applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment strategies. This bioactive polymer and its derivative oligomers commonly used in drug/DNA delivery methods due to their functional properties which improve efficiency of delivery systems. Further, these compounds exert anti-tumor roles through the stimulation of apoptosis, immune enhancing potency, anti-oxidative features and anti-angiogenic roles. Due to the importance of PI3K-AKT signaling in cancer targeting and treatment resistance, this review discusses the involvement of chitosan, oligochitosaccharides and carriers based on these chemicals in the regulation of this pathway in different tumors.

BRD4 inhibitor nitroxoline enhances the sensitivity of multiple myeloma cells to bortezomib in vitro and in vivo by promoting mitochondrial pathway-mediated cell apoptosis

Background

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological neoplasm. Wide administration of bortezomib significantly improves the survival of MM patients compared with conventional chemotherapy. Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) inhibitors also have been demonstrated to retard cell proliferation and induce cellular apoptosis in various cancers. However, it is unclear whether the BRD4 inhibitor nitroxoline plus bortezomib has a synergistic anti-tumor effect on MM.

Methods

Cell viability was determined via 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell cycle and cell apoptosis were assessed via flow cytometry. Protein expression levels were determined via western blotting. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins in xenograft tissue were detected by means of immunohistochemistry.

Results

Treatment with nitroxoline or bortezomib suppressed cell proliferation, and caused G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis in H929 and RPMI8226 cells. Furthermore, nitroxoline intensified the retardation of cell proliferation, as well as further enhanced the G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis induced by bortezomib in H929 and RPMI8226 cells. The western blot analysis revealed that nitroxoline or bortezomib treatment markedly diminished the levels of Bcl-2 and cyclin D1, and increased the levels of p21, Bax, cleaved PARP and cleaved caspase-3. Combination of these two agents was observed to result in further marked changes on these levels compared with nitroxoline or bortezomib treatment alone. What is more, in the xenograft tumor model, combinative treatment markedly inhibited tumor growth compared with the single drug treatment.

Conclusion

Combination of bortezomib with nitroxoline has a synergistic anti-tumor activity in MM cells and may be a novel treatment method for MM.

Chitosan gold nanoparticles induce different ROS-dependent cell death modalities in leukemic cells

BACKGROUND

Nanotechnology proposes the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for drug delivery, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Leukemia is a type of hematopoietic cancer that results from the malignant transformation of white blood cells. Chitosan-coated AuNPs (CH-AuNPs) are cell death inductors in HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cells without affecting peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Considering the selectivity and versatile cytotoxicity of CH-AuNPs, we evaluated whether their selectivity is due to the cell lineage or the characteristics of the cancer cells, by assessing its cytotoxicity in leukemic cells. Moreover, we further examined the cell death mechanism and assessed the implication of nuclear damage, autophagosome formation, and the cell death mechanism induced in leukemic cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We synthesized CH-AuNPs by chemical methods and analyzed their cell death capacity in a T-acute lymphocytic leukemia cell line (CEM), in a chronic myeloid leukemia cell line (K562), and in healthy cells from the same lineage (PBMC and bone marrow, BM, cells). Then, we assessed ROS generation and mitochondrial and nuclear damage. Finally, we evaluated whether cell death occurred by autophagy, apoptosis, or necroptosis, and the role of ROS in this mechanism.

RESULTS

We found that CH-AuNPs did not affect PBMC and BM cells, whereas they are cytotoxic in a dose-dependent manner in leukemic cells. ROS production leads to mitochondrial and nuclear damage, and cell death. We found that CH-AuNPs induce apoptosis in CEM and necroptosis in K562, both undergoing autophagy as a pro-survival mechanism.

CONCLUSION

CH-AuNPs are selective cell death inductors in hematologic cancer cells, without affecting their healthy counterparts. Cell death induced by CH-AuNPs is independent of the cancer cell type; however, its mechanism is different depending on the type of leukemic cells.