Hyaluronic acid/polyethylene glycol nanoparticles for controlled delivery of mitoxantrone

In silico validation of hyaluronic acid - drug conjugates based targeted drug delivery for the treatment of COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 urges scientists to develop targeted drug delivery to manage Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral infections with a fast recovery rate. The aim of the study is to develop Hyaluronic Acid (HA) drug conjugates of viral drugs to target two important enzymes (Mpro and PLpro) of SARS-CoV-2. Three antiviral drugs, namely Dexamethasone (DEX), Favipiravir (FAV), and Remdesivir (REM), were chosen for HA conjugation due to their reactive functional groups. Free forms of drugs (DEX, FAV, REM) and HA drug conjugates (HA-DEX, HA-FAV, HA-REM, HA-RHA, HA-RHE) were validated against Mpro (PDB ID 6LU7) and PLpro (PDB 7LLZ), which play an essential role in the replication and reproduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results of the present study revealed that HA-drug conjugates possess higher binding affinity and the best docking score towards the Mpro and PLpro target proteins of SARS-CoV-2 than their free forms of drugs. ADMET screening resulted that HA-drug conjugates exhibited better pharmacokinetic profiles than their pure forms of drugs. Further, molecular dynamic simulation studies, essential dynamics and free energy landscape analyses show that HA antiviral drug conjugates possess good trajectories and energy status, with the PLpro target protein (PDB 7LLZ) of SARS-CoV-2 through long-distance (500 ns) simulation screening. The research work recorded the best drug candidate for Cell-Targeted Drug Delivery (CTDD) for SARS-CoV-2-infected cells through hyaluronic acid conjugates of antiviral drugs.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Sulfur dioxide-releasing polymeric micelles based on modified hyaluronic acid for combined cancer therapy

In this study, an amphiphilic polymer mPEG-HA(SA)-DNs was designed and synthesized to fabricate a multifunctional micellar system to enhance the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the toxic effect of paclitaxel (PTX). The polymer was prepared by introducing mPEG, stearic acid (SA) and 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNs) to the backbone of hyaluronic acid (HA). With above modifications, the fabricated micelles could encapsulate PTX in the core with high drug loading. The optimized PTX-loaded micelles had a mean size of 158.3 nm. Upon the effect of mPEG, the mPEG-HA(SA)-DNs micelles reduced the non-specific protein adsorption. In vitro drug release study revealed the excellent glutathione (GSH)-triggered PTX release behavior of the micelles. Moreover, GSH could trigger the detachment of DNs segment from mPEG-HA(SA)-DNs, and result in the release of SO2. In vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacy studies demonstrated that the PTX-loaded mPEG-HA(SA)-DNs micelles exhibited outstanding tumor suppression effect. The micelles would be potential carriers for combination cancer therapy by SO2 and PTX.

Deformation characteristics of hydrogel products based on cross-linked hyaluronic acid

BACKGROUND

The cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers are the viscoelastic hydrogel with a dominant elasticity rather than a viscosity as a useful medical device in the soft tissue augmentation. These HA fillers undergo deformation to begin the biodegradation by the biochemical and physical environment of the body, and result of deformations are closely related to clinical performance.

AIMS

The specific equation of molding index is newly generated and proved with Collin's equation, which is used for strong elastomers, for selecting optimal product in facial treatment.

METHODS

In this study, the results of amplitude sweep test from five marketed HA fillers were mathematically demonstrated for the proper clinical application.

RESULTS

The increment of loss modulus by deformation was evaluated as a useful factor for the maintenance of optimal shape molding performance and resistance to external deformation of the cross-linked HA gel. From this study, the equation of molding index for weak viscoelastic hydrogels like HA products can be applied for choosing which products even in aesthetic plastic field. This molding index equation is compared to Collins' equation that index of deformation as elastomer like rubber and then found the positive correlation between two equations.

CONCLUSION

This study could provide a basic theory that achieve useful clinical performance according to characteristics among many types of medical devices based on the molding index.

Functionalized chitosan for cancer nano drug delivery

Chitosan is a biotechnological derivative of chitin receiving a widespread pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. It can be used to encapsulate and deliver cancer therapeutics with inherent pH-dependent solubility to confer drug targeting at tumour microenvironment and anti-cancer activity synergizing cancer cytotoxic drug actions. To further reduce the off-target and by-stander adverse effects of drugs, a high targeted drug delivery efficiency at the lowest possible drug doses is clinically required. The chitosan has been functionalized with covalent conjugates or complexes and processed into nanoparticles to encapsulate and control drug release, to avoid premature drug clearance, to deliver drugs passively and actively to cancer site at tissue, cell or subcellular levels, and to promote cancer cell uptake of nanoparticles through membrane permeabilization at higher specificity and scale. Nanomedicine developed using functionalized chitosan translates to significant preclinical improvements. Future challenges related to nanotoxicity, manufacturability, selection precision of conjugates and complexes as a function of cancer omics and their biological responses from administration site to cancer target need critical assessments.

Preclinical and Clinical Trials of New Treatment Strategies Targeting Cancer Stem Cells in Subtypes of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) can be classified into various histological subtypes, each associated with different prognoses and treatment options, including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and endocrine therapy. Despite advances in this area, many patients still face treatment failure, the risk of metastasis, and disease recurrence, which can ultimately lead to death. Mammary tumors, like other solid tumors, contain a population of small cells known as cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) that have high tumorigenic potential and are involved in cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, tumor recurrence, and resistance to therapy. Therefore, designing therapies specifically targeting at CSCs could help to control the growth of this cell population, leading to increased survival rates for BC patients. In this review, we discuss the characteristics of CSCs, their surface biomarkers, and the active signaling pathways associated with the acquisition of stemness in BC. We also cover preclinical and clinical studies that focus on evaluating new therapy systems targeted at CSCs in BC through various combinations of treatments, targeted delivery systems, and potential new drugs that inhibit the properties that allow these cells to survive and proliferate.

Optimization of an Injectable Hydrogel Depot System for the Controlled Release of Retinal-Targeted Hybrid Nanoparticles

A drawback in the development of treatments that can reach the retina is the presence of barriers in the eye that restrain compounds from reaching the target. Intravitreal injections hold promise for retinal delivery, but the natural defenses in the vitreous can rapidly degrade or eliminate therapeutic molecules. Injectable hydrogel implants, which act as a reservoir, can allow for long-term drug delivery with a single injection into the eye, but still suffer due to the fast clearance of the released drugs when traversing the vitreous and random diffusion that leads to lower pharmaceutic efficacy. A combination with HA-covered nanoparticles, which can be released from the gel and more readily pass through the vitreous to increase the delivery of therapeutic agents to the retina, represents an advanced and elegant way to overcome some of the limitations in eye drug delivery. In this article, we developed hybrid PLGA-Dotap NPs that, due to their hyaluronic acid coating, can improve in vivo distribution throughout the vitreous and delivery to retinal cells. Moreover, a hydrogel implant was developed to act as a depot for the hybrid NPs to better control and slow their release. These results are a first step to improve the treatment of retinal diseases by protecting and transporting the therapeutic treatment across the vitreous and to improve treatment options by creating a depot system for long-term treatments.

Hyaluronic Acid-Based Nanomaterials Applied to Cancer: Where Are We Now?

Cancer cells normally develop the ability to rewire or reprogram themselves to become resistant to treatments that were previously effective. Despite progress in understanding drug resistance, knowledge gaps remain regarding the underlying biological causes of drug resistance and the design of cancer treatments to overcome it. So, resistance acquisition remains a major problem in cancer treatment. Targeted therapeutics are considered the next generation of cancer therapy because they overcome many limitations of traditional treatments. Numerous tumor cells overexpress several receptors that have a high binding affinity for hyaluronic acid (HA), while they are poorly expressed in normal body cells. HA and its derivatives have the advantage of being biocompatible and biodegradable and may be conjugated with a variety of drugs and drug carriers for developing various formulations as anticancer therapies such as micelles, nanogels, and inorganic nanoparticles. Due to their stability in blood circulation and predictable delivery patterns, enhanced tumor-selective drug accumulation, and decreased toxicity to normal tissues, tumor-targeting nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems have been shown to represent an efficacious approach for the treatment of cancer. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of some in vitro and in vivo studies related to the potential of HA as a ligand to develop targeted nanovehicles for future biomedical applications in cancer treatment.

Polymeric Carriers for Delivery of RNA Cancer Therapeutics

As research uncovers the underpinnings of cancer biology, new targeted therapies have been developed. Many of these therapies are small molecules, such as kinase inhibitors, that target specific proteins; however, only 1% of the genome encodes for proteins and only a subset of these proteins has ‘druggable’ active binding sites. In recent decades, RNA therapeutics have gained popularity due to their ability to affect targets that small molecules cannot. Additionally, they can be manufactured more rapidly and cost-effectively than small molecules or recombinant proteins. RNA therapeutics can be synthesised chemically and altered quickly, which can enable a more personalised approach to cancer treatment. Even though a wide range of RNA therapeutics are being developed for various indications in the oncology setting, none has reached the clinic to date. One of the main reasons for this is attributed to the lack of safe and effective delivery systems for this type of therapeutic. This review focuses on current strategies to overcome these challenges and enable the clinical utility of these novel therapeutic agents in the cancer clinic.

Evaluation of Induced Apoptosis by Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells Using Bak1 and Bclx Expression

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have peaked interests in many researches in these recent years due to their advantageous application in modern health care applications. Therefore, we successfully synthesized ZnO NPs by Acacia luciana flower extract as stabilizing, reducing and capping agent, to investigate the antiproliferative potential and apoptosis induction in breast cancer cell lines. The involvements of Acacia luciana bioactive compounds in the stabilization of the ZnO NPs were confirmed by FTIR analysis. FESEM and EDS instruments confirmed that biosynthesized nanoparticles have an irregular morphology and mostly composed of Zn, C, and O respectively. The TEM and zeta potential instruments confirmed that biosynthesized nanoparticles have slight negative charges with particle size of 40 nm. The survivorship of MCF-7 cells were examined by MTT assay and revealed that ZnO NPs inhibited cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent effect with IC₅₀ value of 3.1 µg/mL after 72 h exposure. Also, as a novel work onto ZnO NPs obtained by Acacia extracts, the Bak1/Bclx expression ratio was elucidated utilizing RT-PCR technique. The results demonstrated that ZnO NPs could enhance the expression ratio; therefore they have the potential to induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells via mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway.

The role of folic acid in inducing of apoptosis by zinc(II) complex in ovary and cervix cancer cells

Herein, the synthesis, structure, binding affinity, cytotoxicity, and apoptotic properties of the new Zn(II) complex composed of folic acid and bipyridine ligands are reported. Because folic acid has the ability to target cancer cells directly, so it can play a role in targeted drug delivery of the complex and be useful to distinguish normal cells from cancerous. After characterization of Zinc complex utilizing FTIR, EA, and NMR, the results of MTT assay were shown that viability levels of two FR-positive cell lines (HeLa and Ovcar-3) are dependent on time and concentration of [Zn(bpy)FA], whereas, did not show a significant effect on FR-negative cell lines (A549). Also, Real-time PCR revealed that the presence of FA can influence the expression of apoptosis in cervical carcinoma HeLa cells while cisplatin alone doesn't have the ability to trigger apoptosis. Furthermore, the experimental results were evaluated using pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking analysis. Finally, the stability of the Zn(II) complex was surveyed using quantum mechanical studies.

Oxi-HA/ADH Hydrogels: A Novel Approach in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural polyelectrolyte abundant in mammalian connective tissues, such as cartilage and skin. Both endogenous and exogenous HA produced by fermentation have similar physicochemical, rheological, and biological properties, leading to medical and dermo-cosmetic products. Chemical modifications such as cross-linking or conjugation in target groups of the HA molecule improve its properties and in vivo stability, expanding its applications. Currently, HA-based scaffolds and matrices are of great interest in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, the partial oxidation of the proximal hydroxyl groups in HA to electrophilic aldehydes mediated by periodate is still rarely investigated. The introduced aldehyde groups in the HA backbone allow spontaneous cross-linking with adipic dihydrazide (ADH), thermosensitivity, and noncytotoxicity to the hydrogels, which are advantageous for medical applications. This review provides an overview of the physicochemical properties of HA and its usual chemical modifications to better understand oxi-HA/ADH hydrogels, their functional properties modulated by the oxidation degree and ADH concentration, and the current clinical research. Finally, it discusses the development of biomaterials based on oxi-HA/ADH as a novel approach in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Hierarchical drug release designed Au @PDA-PEG-MTX NPs for targeted delivery to breast cancer with combined photothermal-chemotherapy

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer with a low survival rate and one of the major causes of cancer-related death. Methotrexate (MTX) is an anti-tumor drug used in the treatment of BC. Poor dispersion in water and toxic side effects limit its clinical application. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), owing to their specific structures and unique biological and physiochemical properties, have emerged as potential vehicles for tumor targeting, bioimaging and cancer therapy. An innovative nano drug-loading system (Au @PDA-PEG-MTX NPs) was prepared for targeted treatment of BC. Au @PDA-PEG-MTX NPs under near infra-red region (NIR) irradiation showed effective photothermal therapy against MDA-MB-231 human BC cells growth in vitro by inducing apoptosis through triggering reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction and generating excessive heat. In vivo studies revealed deep penetration ability of Au @PDA-PEG-MTX NPs under NIR irradiation to find application in cancer-targeted fluorescence imaging, and exhibited effective photothermal therapy against BC xenograft growth by inducing apoptosis. Histopathological analysis, cellular uptake, cytotoxicity assay, and apoptosis experiments indicated that Au @PDA-PEG-MTX NPs possessed a good therapeutic effect with high biocompatibility and fewer side effects. This Au NPs drug-loading system achieved specific targeting of MTX to BC cells by surface functionalisation, fluorescence imaging under laser irradiation, combined photothermal-chemotherapy, and pH- and NIR- triggered hierarchical drug release.

CD44 as a tumor biomarker and therapeutic target

CD44, a complex transmembrane glycoprotein, exists in multiple molecular forms, including the standard isoform CD44s and CD44 variant isoforms. CD44 participates in multiple physiological processes, and aberrant expression and dysregulation of CD44 contribute to tumor initiation and progression. CD44 represents a common biomarker of cancer stem cells, and promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition. CD44 is involved in the regulation of diverse vital signaling pathways that modulate cancer proliferation, invasion, metastasis and therapy-resistance, and it is also modulated by a variety of molecules in cancer cells. In addition, CD44 can serve as an adverse prognostic marker among cancer population. The pleiotropic roles of CD44 in carcinoma potentially offering new molecular target for therapeutic intervention. Preclinical and clinical trials for evaluating the pharmacokinetics, efficacy and drug-related toxicity of CD44 monoclonal antibody have been carried out among tumors with CD44 expression. In this review, we focus on current data relevant to CD44, and outline CD44 structure, the regulation of CD44, functional properties of CD44 in carcinogenesis and cancer progression as well as the potential CD44-targeting therapy for cancer management.

pH-Responsive Fluorescence Enhanced Nanogel for Targeted Delivery of AUR and CDDP Against Breast Cancer

Introduction

Auraptene (AUR), a natural bioactive prenyloxy coumarin, is a highly pleiotropic molecule that can bind to the MT1 receptor and can effectively reduce the proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells. Cisplatin (CDDP), as the first synthetic platinum-based anticancer drug, is widely used in the clinic due to its definite mechanism and therapeutic effect on diverse tumors. However, both of AUR and CDDP exhibit some disadvantages when used alone, including poor solubility, low bioavailability, lack of selectivity and systemic toxicity when they are used singly.

Methods

Therefore, the biodegradable materials hyaluronic acid (HA) and β-cyclodextrin derivative (mono-(6-amino-mono-6-deoxy)-β-CD, CD) were employed as carriers to load AUR and CDDP to form nanogel (^CDDPHA-CD@AUR) capable of dual-targeted delivery and synergistic therapy for breast cancer and cell imaging.

Results

With the help of the CDDP-crosslinked CD-loaded structure, the newly synthesized nanogel exhibited excellent physiological stability and fluorescence effects. The release of AUR and CDDP was affected by the pH value, which was beneficial to the selective release in the tumor microenvironment. Cell experiments in vitro demonstrated that the nanogel could be selectively internalized by MCF-7 cells and exhibited low cytotoxicity to HK-2 cells. Antitumor experiments in vivo showed that the nanogel have better antitumor effects and lower systemic toxicity.

Conclusion

Based on these, the nanogel loaded with AUR and CDDP have the potential for targeted delivery against breast cancer.

A potential carrier for anti-tumor targeted delivery-hyaluronic acid nanoparticles

In recent years, biomacromolecules have been widely used in anti-tumor delivery systems due to the biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, their applications are limited due to the lack of specific targeting. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural polysaccharide and presents in extracellular matrix and synovial fluid which can specifically recognize receptors over-expressed by tumor cells. In addition, they can self-assemble into nanoparticles. HA nanoparticles provide new hierarchical targeting strategies: passively targeting tumor tissue by enhanced permeability and retention effect, actively targeting tumor cells by cluster determinant 44 (CD44) receptor, and then entering cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis. In this review, the synthesis of HA nanoparticles is described in detail from several aspects and applications are also discussed for improving the delivery of hydrophobic drugs, nucleic acids and photosensitizers into the tumor cells. In addition, the modification of HA for improving the targeting and drug releasing characteristics are also discussed.

Bakhiet A, Khan A, A. Khan H. Recent Trends in Biomedical Applications of Nanomaterials

In recent years, there have been enormous developments in utilizing the potential of nanotechnology in different fields including biomedical sciences. The most remarkable biomedical applications of nanoparticles (NPs) are in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Functionalization of NPs renders them unique properties so that they can be used as contrast agent for dual or triple modal imaging. The design and synthesis of new generation NPs aiming at targeted drug delivery has revolutionized the safe and effective therapies for complex and difficult to treat diseases. The theranostic NPs possess the dual capabilities for disease diagnosis and treatment. This review highlights the biomedical applications of NPs based on recent reports published in this area of research.