The Role of Inhaled Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles in Lung Cancer Therapy

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, largely due to the limited efficacy of anticancer drugs, which is primarily attributed to insufficient doses reaching the lungs. Additionally, patients undergoing treatment experience severe systemic adverse effects due to the distribution of anticancer drugs to non-targeted sites. In light of these challenges, there has been a growing interest in pulmonary administration of drugs for the treatment of lung cancer. This route allows drugs to be delivered directly to the lungs, resulting in high local concentrations that can enhance antitumor efficacy while mitigating systemic toxic effects. However, pulmonary administration poses the challenge of overcoming the mechanical, chemical, and immunological defenses of the respiratory tract that prevent the inhaled drug from properly penetrating the lungs. To overcome these drawbacks, the use of nanoparticles in inhaler formulations may be a promising strategy. Nanoparticles can assist in minimizing drug clearance, increasing penetration into the lung epithelium, and enhancing cellular uptake. They can also facilitate increased drug stability, promote controlled drug release, and delivery to target sites, such as the tumor environment. Among them, chitosan-based nanoparticles demonstrate advantages over other polymeric nanocarriers due to their unique biological properties, including antitumor activity and mucoadhesive capacity. These properties have the potential to enhance the efficacy of the drug when administered via the pulmonary route. In view of the above, this paper provides an overview of the research conducted on the delivery of anticancer drug-loaded chitosan-based nanoparticles incorporated into inhaled drug delivery devices for the treatment of lung cancer. Furthermore, the article addresses the use of emerging technologies, such as siRNA (small interfering RNA), in the context of lung cancer therapy. Particularly, recent studies employing chitosan-based nanoparticles for siRNA delivery via the pulmonary route are described.

Reducing the effective dose of cisplatin using cobalt modified silver nano-hybrid as a carriers on MCF7 and HCT cell models

Cancer is a deadly illness with a convoluted pathogenesis. The most prevalent restrictions that frequently result in treatment failure for cancer chemotherapy include lack of selectivity, cytotoxicity, and multidrug resistance. Thus, considerable efforts have been focused in recent years on the establishment of a modernistic sector termed nano-oncology, which offers the option of employing nanoparticles (NPs) with the objective of detecting, targeting, and treating malignant disorders. NPs offer a focused approach compared to conventional anticancer methods, preventing negative side effects. In the present work, a successful synthetic process was used to create magnetic cobalt cores with an AgNPs shell to form bimetallic nanocomposites CoAg, then functionalized with Cis forming novel CoAg@Cis nanohybrid. The morphology and optical properties were determined by TEM, DLS, FTIRs and UV-vis spectroscopy, furthermore, anticancer effect of CoAg and CoAg@Cis nanohybrids were estimated using MTT assay on MCF7 and HCT cell lines. Our results showed that Co@Ag core shell is about 15 nm were formed with dark CoNPs core and AgNPs shell with less darkness than the core, moreover, CoAg@Cis has diameter about 25 nm which are bigger in size than Co@Ag core shell demonstrating the loading of Cis. It was observed that Cis, CoAg and CoAg@Cis induced a decline in cell survival and peaked at around 65%, 73%and 66% on MCF7 and 80%, 76%and 78% on HCT at 100 µg/ml respectively. Compared to Cis alone, CoAg and CoAg@Cis caused a significant decrease in cell viability. These findings suggest that the synthesized CoAg can be used as a powerful anticancer drug carrier.

Hydroelectric actuator for 3-dimensional analysis of electrophoretic and dielectrophoretic behavior of cancer cells; suitable in diagnosis and invasion studies

Cancer is a cellular-based disease, so cytological diagnosis is one of the main challenges for its early detection. An extensive number of diagnostic methods have been developed to separate cancerous cells from normal ones, in electrical methods attract progressive attention. Identifying and specifying different cells requires understanding their dielectric and electric properties. This study evaluated MDA-MB-231, HUVEC, and MCF-10A cell lines, WBCs isolated from blood, and patient-derived cell samples with a cylindrical body with two transparent FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) plate electrodes. Cell mobility rates were recorded in response to these stimuli. It was observed that cancer cells demonstrate drastic changes in their motility in the presence and absence of an electric field (DC/AC). Also, solution viscosity's effect on cancer cells' capturing efficacy was evaluated. This research's main distinguished specification uses a non-microfluidic platform to detect and pathologically evaluate cytological samples with a simple, cheap, and repeatable platform. The capturing procedure was carried out on a cytological slide without any complicated electrode patterning with the ability of cytological staining. Moreover, this platform successfully designed and experimented with the invasion assay (the ability of captured cancer cells to invade normal cells).

Polysaccharides-based nanocarriers enhance the anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin

Curcumin (CUR) has been discovered to have many biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-oxygenation, anti-human immunodeficiency virus, anti-microbial and exhibits a good effect on the prevention and treatment of many diseases. However, the limited properties of CUR, including the poor solubility, bioavailability and instability caused by enzymes, light, metal irons, and oxygen, have compelled researchers to turn their attention to drug carrier application to overcome these drawbacks. Encapsulation may provide potential protective effects to the embedding materials and/or have a synergistic effect with them. Therefore, nanocarriers, especially polysaccharides-based nanocarriers, have been developed in many studies to enhance the anti-inflammatory capacity of CUR. Consequently, it's critical to review current advancements in the encapsulation of CUR using polysaccharides-based nanocarriers, as well as further study the potential mechanisms of action where polysaccharides-based CUR nanoparticles (the complex nanoparticles/Nano CUR-delivery systems) exhibit their anti-inflammatory effects. This work suggests that polysaccharides-based nanocarriers will be a thriving field in the treatment of inflammation and inflammation-related diseases.

Chitosan based sorafenib tosylate loaded magnetic nanoparticles: Formulation and in-vitro characterization

Biocompatible magnetic nanoparticles are used for various biomedical applications. This study reported the development of nanoparticles with magnetic properties by embedding magnetite particles in the drug-loaded, crosslinked matrix of chitosan. Sorafenib tosylate-loaded magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by a modified ionic-gelation method. Particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, and entrapment efficiency of nanoparticles were in the range of 95.6 ± 3.4 nm to 440.9 ± 7.3 nm, 12.8 ± 0.8 mV to 27.3 ± 1.1 mV, 0.289 ± 0.011 to 0.571 ± 0.011, and 54.36 ± 1.26 % to 79.67 ± 1.40 %, respectively. The XRD spectrum of formulation CMP-5 confirmed the amorphous nature of the loaded drug in nanoparticles. TEM image confirmed the spherical shape of nanoparticles. Atomic force microscopic image of formulation CMP-5 indicated a mean surface roughness of 10.3597 nm. The magnetization saturation of formulation CMP-5 was 24.74 emu/g. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed that formulation CMP-5's g-Lande's factor was 4.27, which was extremely near to the 4.30 (usual for Fe³⁺ ions). Residual paramagnetic Fe³⁺ ions may be responsible for paramagnetic origin. The data suggests superparamagnetic nature of particles. Formulations released 28.66 ± 1.22 % to 53.24 ± 1.95 % and 70.13 ± 1.72 % to 92.48 ± 1.32 % of the loaded drug after 24 h in pH 6.8 and pH 1.2, respectively. The IC₅₀ value of formulation CMP-5 was 54.75 μg/mL in HepG2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines).

Circulating tumor cell isolation for cancer diagnosis and prognosis

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are tumor cells that shed from the primary tumor and intravasate into the peripheral blood circulation system responsible for metastasis. Sensitive detection of CTCs from clinical samples can serve as an effective tool in cancer diagnosis and prognosis through liquid biopsy. Current CTC detection technologies mainly reply on the biomarker-mediated platforms including magnetic beads, microfluidic chips or size-sensitive microfiltration which can compromise detection sensitivity due to tumor heterogeneity. A more sensitive, biomarker independent CTCs isolation technique has been recently developed with the surface-charged superparamagnetic nanoprobe capable of different EMT subpopulation CTC capture from 1 mL clinical blood. In this review, this new strategy is compared with the conventional techniques on biomarker specificity, impact of protein corona, effect of glycolysis on cell surface charge, and accurate CTC identification. Correlations between CTC enumeration and molecular profiling in clinical blood and cancer prognosis are provided for clinical cancer management.

Single-Step Self-Assembly of Zein–Honey–Chitosan Nanoparticles for Hydrophilic Drug Incorporation by Flash Nanoprecipitation

Zein- and chitosan-based nanoparticles have been described as promising carrier systems for food, biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. However, the manufacture of size-controlled zein and chitosan particles is challenging. In this study, an adapted anti-solvent nanoprecipitation method was developed. The effects of the concentration of zein and chitosan and the pH of the collection solution on the properties of the zein–honey–chitosan nanoparticles were investigated. Flash nanoprecipitation was demonstrated as a rapid, scalable, single-step method to achieve the self-assembly of zein–honey–chitosan nanoparticles. The nanoparticles size was tuned by varying certain formulation parameters, including the total concentration and ratio of the polymers. The zein–honey–chitosan nanoparticles’ hydrodynamic diameter was below 200 nm and the particles were stable for 30 days. Vitamin C was used as a hydrophilic model substance and efficiently encapsulated into these nanoparticles. This study opens a promising pathway for one-step producing zein–honey–chitosan nanoparticles by flash nanoprecipitation for hydrophilic compounds’ encapsulation.

Activatable Peptides for Rapid and Simple Visualization of Protease Activity Secreted in Living Cells

Activity-based monitoring of cell-secreted proteases has gained significant interest due to the implication of these substances in diverse cellular functions. Here, we demonstrated a cell-based method of monitoring protease activity using fluorescent cell-permeable peptides. The activatable peptide consists of anionic (EEEE), cleavable, and cationic sequences (RRRR) that enable intracellular delivery by matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), which is secreted by living cancer cells. Compared to HT-29 cells (MMP2-negative), HT-1080 cells (MMP2-positive) showed a strong fluorescence response to the short fluorescent peptide via cell-secreted protease activation. Our approach is expected to find applications for the rapid visualization of protease activity in living cells.

Dual Targeting with Cell Surface Electrical Charge and Folic Acid via Superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Cu2-xS for Photothermal Cancer Cell Killing

Simple Summary

There are two critical issues in cancer hyperthermia: (1) photothermal effect and (2) cancer cell targeting efficiency. While the former can be addressed by rendering the nano carriers with significant IR absorptions, the latter is dealt with using a novel dual-targeting strategy. In this study, the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle was coated with a shell of Cu_2–xS; the resulting Fe₃O₄@Cu_2–xS exhibited strong IR absorption for enhanced photothermal cancer cell killing. The Fe₃O₄@Cu_2–xS nanoparticles are surface functionalized with amphiphilic polyethylenimine (LA-PEI) and Folic acid-TPGS (FA-TPGS) for two purposes: (1) the PEI surface coating renders the particles positively charged, enabling them to effectively bind with negatively-charged cancer cells for more intimate nano/bio contact resulting in much stronger cancer cell ablation; (2) the folic acid modification further increases the targeting efficiency via the folic receptors on the cancer cell surface. Dual-targeting with the surface electrical charge and the tumor-specific folic acid synergistically facilitates both passive and active targeting for significantly improved photothermal killing.

Abstract

A major challenge in cancer therapy is to achieve high cell targeting specificity for the highest therapeutic efficacy. Two major approaches have been shown to be quite effective, namely, (1) bio-marker mediated cell targeting, and (2) electrical charge driven cell binding. The former utilizes the tumor-specific moieties on nano carrier surfaces for active targeting, while the latter relies on nanoparticles binding onto the cancer cell surfaces due to differences in electrical charge. Cancer cells are known for their hallmark metabolic pattern: high rates of glycolysis that lead to negatively charged cell surfaces. In this study, the nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄@Cu_2–xS were rendered positively charged by conjugating their surfaces with different functional groups for strong electrostatic binding onto the negatively-charged cancer cells. In addition to the positively charged surfaces, the Fe₃O₄@Cu_2–xS nanoparticles were also modified with folic acid (FA) for biomarker-based cell targeting. The dual-targeting approach synergistically utilizes the effectiveness of both charge- and biomarker-based cell binding for enhanced cell targeting. Further, these superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄@Cu_2–xS nanoparticles exhibit much stronger IR absorptions compared to Fe₃O₄, therefore much more effective in photothermal therapy.

Assessing Suitability of Co@Au Core/Shell Nanoparticle Geometry for Improved Theranostics in Colon Carcinoma

The interactions between cells and nanomaterials at the nanoscale play a pivotal role in controlling cellular behavior and ample evidence links cell intercommunication to nanomaterial size. However, little is known about the effect of nanomaterial geometry on cell behavior. To elucidate this and to extend the application in cancer theranostics, we have engineered core–shell cobalt–gold nanoparticles with spherical (Co@Au NPs) and elliptical morphology (Co@Au NEs). Our results show that owing to superparamagnetism, Co@Au NPs can generate hyperthermia upon magnetic field stimulation. In contrast, due to the geometric difference, Co@Au NEs can be optically excited to generate hyperthermia upon photostimulation and elevate the medium temperature to 45 °C. Both nanomaterial geometries can be employed as prospective contrast agents; however, at identical concentration, Co@Au NPs exhibited 4-fold higher cytotoxicity to L929 fibroblasts as compared to Co@Au NEs, confirming the effect of nanomaterial geometry on cell fate. Furthermore, photostimulation-generated hyperthermia prompted detachment of anti-cancer drug, Methotrexate (MTX), from Co@Au NEs-MTX complex and which triggered 90% decrease in SW620 colon carcinoma cell viability, confirming their application in cancer theranostics. The geometry-based perturbation of cell fate can have a profound impact on our understanding of interactions at nano-bio interface which can be exploited for engineering materials with optimized geometries for superior theranostic applications.

In silico and In vitro Investigation of a Likely Pathway for Anti-Cancerous Effect of Thrombocidin-1 as a Novel Anticancer Peptide

BACKGROUND

Antimicrobial and antifungal activities of Thrombocidin-1 (TC-1) is shown previously, however,.the anti-cancerous feature of this peptide is still uncovered.

OBJECTIVE

The objective is to evaluate anti-cancerous feature of recombinant TC-1.

METHODS

In this study, based on the significant similarity of rTC-1 and IL-8 in case of coding sequence, tertiary structure, and also docking and molecular dynamic simulation (MD) results with CXCR1, a receptor which has positive correlation with different cancers, a likely pathway for anticancerous effect of rTC-1 was proposed. In addition, the coding sequence of TC-1+6xhistidine (rTC-1) was inserted into the pET22b(+) vector and cloned and expressed by E. coli BL21 and finally purified through nickel affinity column. Afterward, the retrieved rTC-1 was used in MTT assay against mouse colon adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, chondrosarcoma, mouse melanoma, and breast adenocarcinoma cell lines to investigate its probable anticancer application.

RESULTS

Docking and MD simulation results showed that rTC-1 and IL-8 share almost the same residues in the interaction with CXCR1 receptor. Besides, the stability of the rTC-1_CXCR11-38 complex was shown during 100ns MD simulation. In addition, the successful expression and purification of rTC-1 depict an 8kD peptide. The IC50 results of MTT assay revealed that rTC-1 has cytotoxic effect on C26-A and SW1353 cancerous cell lines.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, apart from probable anti-cancerous effect of rTC-1 on C26-A and SW1353 cell lines, this peptide may be able to mimic the anti-cancerous pathway of IL-8.

Delivery of the Radionuclide 131I Using Cationic Fusogenic Liposomes as Nanocarriers

Liposomes are highly biocompatible and versatile drug carriers with an increasing number of applications in the field of nuclear medicine and diagnostics. So far, only negatively charged liposomes with intercalated radiometals, e.g., ⁶⁴Cu, ^99mTc, have been reported. However, the process of cellular uptake of liposomes by endocytosis is rather slow. Cellular uptake can be accelerated by recently developed cationic liposomes, which exhibit extraordinarily high membrane fusion ability. The aim of the present study was the development of the formulation and the characterization of such cationic fusogenic liposomes with intercalated radioactive [¹³¹I]I^- for potential use in therapeutic applications. The epithelial human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was used as a model for invasive cancer cells and cellular uptake of [¹³¹I]I^- was monitored in vitro. Delivery efficiencies of cationic and neutral liposomes were compared with uptake of free iodide. The best cargo delivery efficiency (~10%) was achieved using cationic fusogenic liposomes due to their special delivery pathway of membrane fusion. Additionally, human blood cells were also incubated with cationic control liposomes and free [¹³¹I]I^-. In these cases, iodide delivery efficiencies remained below 3%.

Topographical and Biomechanical Guidance of Electrospun Fibers for Biomedical Applications

Electrospinning is gaining increasing interest in the biomedical field as an eco-friendly and economic technique for production of random and oriented polymeric fibers. The aim of this review was to give an overview of electrospinning potentialities in the production of fibers for biomedical applications with a focus on the possibility to combine biomechanical and topographical stimuli. In fact, selection of the polymer and the eventual surface modification of the fibers allow selection of the proper chemical/biological signal to be administered to the cells. Moreover, a proper design of fiber orientation, dimension, and topography can give the opportunity to drive cell growth also from a spatial standpoint. At this purpose, the review contains a first introduction on potentialities of electrospinning for the obtainment of random and oriented fibers both with synthetic and natural polymers. The biological phenomena which can be guided and promoted by fibers composition and topography are in depth investigated and discussed in the second section of the paper. Finally, the recent strategies developed in the scientific community for the realization of electrospun fibers and for their surface modification for biomedical application are presented and discussed in the last section.

Multifunctional hydroxyapatite with potential for application in theranostic nanomedicine

Although several materials are being studied for the development of theranostic systems, factors such as high costs, low yield, stability of nanoparticles (NPs) and toxicity-related issues hinder their application in medicine. Thus, this paper introduces the synthesis of a theranostic system composed of hydroxyapatite (HAp) functionalized with europium (Eu³⁺) and zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs, resulting in a low-cost material that presents biocompatibility, luminescence, antibacterial activity and whose synthesis method is simple. The Eu³⁺ - doped HAp was obtained through the precipitation method and the functionalization with ZnO occurred in the subsequent stage through the solid-state reaction method. The resulting material, [Ca_9.5Eu_0.5(PO₄)₆(OH)₂@ZnO], was characterized by several techniques where the photoluminescence spectrum exhibited sharp peaks at the 4f^N → 4f^N transitions typical of Eu³⁺ ions, while tests with bacteria proved its antibacterial property. The crystal structure obtained by X-ray diffraction confirmed HAp as the major phase. The multifunctional HAp (HAp:Eu@ZnO) was considered as hemocompatible, exhibiting an in vitro hemolysis ratio of 1.85 (±0.2) %, and its loading potential, tested for two antitumor drugs, showed an adsorption capacity of 43.0 ± 3.6% for 5-Fluorouracil and 84.0 ± 4.0% for curcumin. The cytotoxicity of the system as well as its use as a support for drugs was analyzed through in vitro assays with tumor cells from sarcoma 180 in mice. The results confirmed that HAp:Eu@ZnO is non-toxic to cells and its potential for antineoplastic vectorization is increased by cell internalization due to endocytosis, with up to 39.0% of cancer cell deaths having been observed at the concentrations and period evaluated.

A Microfluidic Sensor for Continuous, in Situ Surface Charge Measurement of Single Cells

Cell surface charge has been recognized as an important cellular property. We developed a microfluidic sensor based on resistive pulse sensing to assess surface charge and sizes of single cells suspended in a continuous flow. The device consists of two consecutive resistive pulse sensors (RPSs) with identical dimensions. Opposite electric fields were applied on the two RPSs. A charged cell in the RPSs was accelerated or decelerated by the electric fields and thus exhibited different transit times passing through the two RPSs. The cell surface charge is measured with zeta potential that can be quantified with the transit time difference. The transit time of each cell can be accurately detected with the width of pulses generated by the RPS, while the cell size can be calculated with the pulse magnitude at the same time. This device has the ability to detect surface charges and sizes of individual cells with high tolerance in cell types and testing solutions compared with traditional electrophoretic light scattering methods. Three different types of cells including HeLa cancer cells, human dermal fibroblast cells, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were tested with the sensor. Results showed a significant difference of zeta potentials between HeLa cells and fibroblasts or HUVECs. In addition, when HeLa cells were treated with various concentrations of glutamine, the effects on cancer cell surface charge were detected. Our results demonstrated the great potential of using our sensor for cell type sorting, cancer cell detection, and cell status analysis.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles for therapeutic purposes in cancer medicine

Zinc oxide nanoparticles are characterized by a good biocompatibility while providing a versatile potential as innovative therapeutic agents in cancer medicine.

Self-assembled nanodiamond supraparticles for anticancer chemotherapy

A nanodiamond (ND) is a promising material for drug delivery applications owing to its relatively low cost, amenability to large-scale synthesis, unique structure, and low toxicity. However, synthesizing drug-loaded ND conjugates with uniform and tunable sizes, high loading capacity, efficacy in drug delivery, and versatility in terms of surface functionalization has been challenging. Here, we show that perfluorooctanoic acid-functionalized NDs spontaneously transform into well-dispersed and biocompatible supraparticle (SP) nanoclusters. We demonstrate that the synthesized ND-based SPs (ND-SPs) exhibit high penetration through the cell membrane and are therefore superior as drug carriers for conventional nanomedicines such as polyethylene glycol and phospholipid-based nanocapsules and simple drug-loaded ND conjugates. We confirm the efficacy of ND-SPs in the eradication of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Our results demonstrate that the synthesized ND-SPs are useful for targeted drug delivery in a variety of biological applications.