Green synthesis of multifunctional PEG-carboxylate π back-bonded gold nanoconjugates for breast cancer treatment

Nanoparticle-mediated diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer

By virtue of their advanced physicochemical properties, nanoparticles have attracted significant attention from researchers for application in diverse fields of medical science. Breast cancer, presenting a high risk of morbidity and mortality, frequently occurs in women and is considered a malignant tumor. Globally, breast cancer is considered the second leading cause of death. Accordingly, its poor prognosis, invasive metastasis, and relapse have motivated oncologists and nano-medical researchers to develop highly potent nanotherapies to cure this deadly disease. In this case, nanoparticles have emerged as responsive platforms for breast cancer management, providing new approaches to improve the diagnostic accuracy, deliver targeted therapies, and limit the progression of this disease. Recently, smart nano-carriers encapsulating drugs, ligands, and tracking probes have been developed for the specific therapy of breast cancers. Further, efforts have been devoted to developing various nano-systems with minimal toxicity. The aim of this review is to present a background on novel nanotheranostic methods that can be employed to diagnose and treat breast cancers and encourage readers to focus on the development of novel nanomedicine for breast cancers and other deadly diseases. In this context, we discuss different methods for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancers using different metal and metal oxide nanoparticles.

Exploration of inorganic nanoparticles for revolutionary drug delivery applications: a critical review

The nanosystems for delivering drugs which have evolved with time, are being designed for greater drug efficiency and lesser side-effects, and are also complemented by the advancement of numerous innovative materials. In comparison to the organic nanoparticles, the inorganic nanoparticles are stable, have a wide range of physicochemical, mechanical, magnetic, and optical characteristics, and also have the capability to get modified using some ligands to enrich their attraction towards the molecules at the target site, which makes them appealing for bio-imaging and drug delivery applications. One of the strong benefits of using the inorganic nanoparticles-drug conjugate is the possibility of delivering the drugs to the affected cells locally, thus reducing the side-effects like cytotoxicity, and facilitating a higher efficacy of the therapeutic drug. This review features the direct and indirect effects of such inorganic nanoparticles like gold, silver, graphene-based, hydroxyapatite, iron oxide, ZnO, and CeO2 nanoparticles in developing effective drug carrier systems. This article has remarked the peculiarities of these nanoparticle-based systems in pulmonary, ocular, wound healing, and antibacterial drug deliveries as well as in delivering drugs across Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB) and acting as agents for cancer theranostics. Additionally, the article sheds light on the plausible modifications that can be carried out on the inorganic nanoparticles, from a researcher's perspective, which could open a new pathway.

An Updated Review on Advances in Hydrogel-Based Nanoparticles for Liver Cancer Treatment

More than 90% of all liver malignancies are hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), for which chemotherapy and immunotherapy are the ideal therapeutic choices. Hepatocellular carcinoma is descended from other liver diseases, such as viral hepatitis, alcoholism, and metabolic syndrome. Normal cells and tissues may suffer damage from common forms of chemotherapy. In contrast to systemic chemotherapy, localized chemotherapy can reduce side effects by delivering a steady stream of chemotherapeutic drugs directly to the tumor site. This highlights the significance of controlled-release biodegradable hydrogels as drug delivery methods for chemotherapeutics. This review discusses using hydrogels as drug delivery systems for HCC and covers thermosensitive, pH-sensitive, photosensitive, dual-sensitive, and glutathione-responsive hydrogels. Compared to conventional systemic chemotherapy, hydrogel-based drug delivery methods are more effective in treating cancer.

Developments on the Smart Hydrogel-Based Drug Delivery System for Oral Tumor Therapy

At present, an oral tumor is usually treated by surgery combined with preoperative or postoperative radiotherapies and chemotherapies. However, traditional chemotherapies frequently result in substantial toxic side effects, including bone marrow suppression, malfunction of the liver and kidneys, and neurotoxicity. As a new local drug delivery system, the smart drug delivery system based on hydrogel can control drug release in time and space, and effectively alleviate or avoid these problems. Environmentally responsive hydrogels for smart drug delivery could be triggered by temperature, photoelectricity, enzyme, and pH. An overview of the most recent research on smart hydrogels and their controlled-release drug delivery systems for the treatment of oral cancer is given in this review. It is anticipated that the local drug release method and environment-responsive benefits of smart hydrogels will offer a novel technique for the low-toxicity and highly effective treatment of oral malignancy.

Hydrogels for localized chemotherapy of liver cancer: a possible strategy for improved and safe liver cancer treatment

The systemic drug has historically been preferred for the treatment of the majority of pathological conditions, particularly liver cancer. Indeed, this mode of treatment is associated with adverse reactions, toxicity, off-target accumulation, and rapid hepatic and renal clearance. Numerous efforts have been made to design systemic therapeutic carriers to improve retention while decreasing side effects and clearance. Following systemic medication, local administration of therapeutic agents allows for higher 'effective' doses with fewer side effects, kidney accumulation, and clearance. Hydrogels are highly biocompatible and can be used for both imaging and therapy. Hydrogel-based drug delivery approach has fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy and can deliver drugs to tumors for a longer time. The chemical and physical flexibility of hydrogels can be used to achieve disease-induced in situ accumulation as well as subsequent drug release and hydrogel-programmed degradation. Moreover, they can act as a biocompatible depot for localized chemotherapy when stimuli-responsive carriers are administrated. Herein, we summarize the design strategies of various hydrogels used for localized chemotherapy of liver cancer and their delivery routes, as well as recent research on smart hydrogels.

A Review on Drug Delivery System for Tumor Therapy

In recent years, with the development of nanomaterials, the research of drug delivery systems has become a new field of cancer therapy. Compared with conventional antitumor drugs, drug delivery systems such as drug nanoparticles (NPs) are expected to have more advantages in antineoplastic effects, including easy preparation, high efficiency, low toxicity, especially active tumor-targeting ability. Drug delivery systems are usually composed of delivery carriers, antitumor drugs, and even target molecules. At present, there are few comprehensive reports on a summary of drug delivery systems applied for tumor therapy. This review introduces the preparation, characteristics, and applications of several common delivery carriers and expounds the antitumor mechanism of different antitumor drugs in delivery carriers in detail which provides a more theoretical basis for clinical application of personalized cancer nanomedicine in the future.

Hydrogel with silver nanoparticles synthesized by Mimosa tenuiflora for second-degree burns treatment

In this work we use Mimosa tenuiflora (MtE) extracts as reducing agents to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgMt NPs) which were characterized by DPPH and Total Polyphenols Assays, UV-visible, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). AgMt NPs possess average sizes of 21 nm and fcc crystalline structure, it was also confirmed that the MtE is present in the AgMt NPs even after the cleaning protocol applied. Subsequently, carbopol hydrogels were made and the MtE and the synthesized AgMt NPs were dispersed in different gels (MtE-G and AgMt NPs-G, respectively) at 100 µg/g concentration. The gels were characterized by UV-Vis, IR, and rheology. Antimicrobial tests were performed using Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Burn wound healing was evaluated in a second-degree burn injury on a Wistar rats model for 14 days and additional skin biopsies were examined with histopathological analysis. Gel with commercial silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) was prepared and employed as a control on the biological assays. Hydrogel system containing silver nanoparticles synthesized with Mimosa tenuiflora (AgMt NPs-G) is a promising therapeutic strategy for burn wound healing, this due to bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effects, which promotes a more effective recovery (in percentage terms) by damaged area.

Gold nanoparticles conjugated with anti-CD133 monoclonal antibody and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapeutic agent as nanocarriers for cancer cell targeting

The enhanced permeability and retention effect allows for passive targeting of solid tumours by nanoparticles carrying anticancer drugs. However, active targeting by incorporation of various ligands onto nanoparticles can provide for a more selective and enhanced chemotherapeutic effect and complement the deficiencies of the passive targeting approach. Here we report on the design of the carboxyl-terminated PEGylated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), their functionalization with anti-CD133 monoclonal antibody (mAb) via a crosslinking reaction, and subsequent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) drug loading. The synthesized products in the form of stable colloids were characterised using a range of physicochemical techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Conjugation of anti-CD133 mAb onto PEGylated AuNPs was confirmed with the use of UV-Vis, BCA protein assay and fluorescence microscopy. HCT116 colorectal cancer cells abundantly expressed CD133: 92.4 ± 1.3%, as measured by flow cytometry. Whereas PEGylated AuNPs not conjugated with anti-CD133 mAb accumulated mainly at the cellular membrane, nanoparticles conjugated with anti-CD133 mAb were contained within the nuclear region of the cells. Anti-CD133 mAb conjugation facilitated the specific intracellular uptake due to specific antigen-antibody binding interaction. In vitro cytotoxicity studies on HCT116 cells showed that PEGylated AuNPs and PEGylated AuNPs-CD133 did not elicit any toxicity at any of the tested concentrations. Meanwhile, 5-FU-PEGylated AuNPs-CD133 significantly reduced the cell viability relative to the treatment with 5-FU-PEGylated AuNPs without anti-CD133 mAb conjugates (p < 0.0001). This study shows that the conjugation of nanocarriers with the anti-CD133 antibody improves the specific targeting of 5-FU against colorectal cancer cells. These results demonstrate that simultaneous functionalisation of PEGylated AuNPs with antibodies and chemotherapeutic drugs is a viable strategy to combat cancer through targeted drug delivery.

Chitosan/carbon quantum dot/aptamer complex as a potential anticancer drug delivery system towards the release of 5-fluorouracil

Nowadays, nanotechnology contributes diminishing side effects rather than traditional therapeutic methods like chemotherapy. Thus, designing a biocompatible specific targeted nanocarrier with prolonged half-life and enhanced bio-availability using simultaneous cell imaging seems urgent. To meet this demand, 5-fluorouracil-chitosan‑carbon quantum dot-aptamer (5-FU-CS-CQD-Apt) nanoparticle was successfully synthesized for specific targeted delivery of 5-FU anti-cancer drug used in breast cancer treatment and this was done by following facile water-in-oil (W/O) emulsification method. Physicochemical properties were characterized and high drug loading and entrapment efficiency were achieved. The average size and zeta potential of the nanoparticle were 122.7 nm and + 31.2 mV, respectively. According to the in-vitro drug release profile, 5-FU-CS-CQD-Apt released the drug in a controlled manner. MTT assay, flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and gene expression results demonstrated that the blank nanoparticle was biocompatible, and 5-FU-CS-CQD-Apt could kill tumor cells efficiently. Bcl-2/Bax ratio was decreased after 5-FU-CS-CQD-Apt treatment in MCF-7 cells. It was concluded that 5-FU-CS-CQD-Apt could be used as a potential nanocarrier in breast cancer treatment.

MUC-1 aptamer conjugated InP/ZnS quantum dots/nanohydrogel fluorescent composite for mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in MCF-7 cells

The combined use of nanohydrogels (NHGs) and quantum dots (QDs) has resulted in the development of a nanoscaled drug delivery system (DDS) with fluorescence imaging potential. NHG-QDs composite loaded with anti-cancer drugs could be applied as an effective theranostics for simultaneous diagnosis and therapy of cancer cells. Here, we report on the synthesis of NHG-QDs nanosystem (NS) conjugated with an amino-modified MUC-1 aptamer (Ap) and loaded with hydrophobic paclitaxel (PTX). To effectively target and eradicate breast cancer MCF-7 cells, the nanocomposite was further loaded with the inhibitor of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sodium oxamate (SO) (Ap-NHG-QDs-PTX-SO) to inhibit the conversion of pyruvate to lactate via LDH and disrupting glycolysis. Results obtained from in vitro analysis (MTT assay, apoptosis/necrosis assessment, evaluation of mitochondria targeting, and gene expression profiling) revealed that Ap-NHG-QDs-PTX-SO NS could significantly target and inhibit MCF-7 cells and also induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Collectively, the Ap-NHG-QDs-PTX-SO NS is proposed to serve as a robust theranostics for simultaneous imaging and therapy of breast cancer and other types of solid tumors.

Principles and applications of nanomaterial-based hyperthermia in cancer therapy

Over the past few decades, hyperthermia therapy (HTT) has become one of the most promising strategies to treat cancer. HTT has been applied with nanotechnology to overcome drawbacks such as non-selectivity and invasiveness and to maximize therapeutic efficacy. The high temperature of HTT induces protein denaturation that leads to apoptosis or necrosis. It can also enhance the effects of other cancer therapies because heat-damaged tissues reduce radioresistance and help accumulate anticancer drugs. Gold nanoparticles and superparamagnetic iron oxide with different energy sources are commonly used as hyperthermia agents. New types of nanoparticles such as those whose surface is coated with several polymers and those modified with targeting moieties have been studied as novel HTT agents. In this review, we introduce principles and applications of nanotechnology-based HTT using gold nanoparticles and superparamagnetic iron oxide.

Nanomedicine in treatment of breast cancer - A challenge to conventional therapy

Amongst the various types of cancer, breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease and known as the leading cause of death among women globally. The extensive interdisciplinary investigation in nanotechnology and cancer biomedical research has been evolved over the years for its effective treatment. However, the advent of chemotherapeutic resistance in breast cancer is one of the major confront researchers are facing in achieving successful chemotherapy. Research in the area of cancer nanotechnology over the years have now been revolutionized through the development of smart polymers, lipids, inorganic materials and eventually their surface-engineering with targeting ligands. Moreover, nanotechnology further extended and brings in the notice the new theranostic approach which combining the therapy and imaging simultaneously. Currently, research is being envisaged in the area of novel nano-pharmaceutical design viz. liposome, nanotubes, polymer lipid hybrid system, which focuses to make the chemotherapy curative and long-lasting. In this review, we aimed to discuss the recent advancement of different surface-engineered/targeted nanomedicines that improved the drug efficacy in breast cancer.

Nanoengineering of Gold Nanoparticles: Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications

The fundamental aspects of the manufacturing of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are discussed in this review. In particular, attention is devoted to the development of a simple and versatile method for the preparation of these nanoparticles. Eco-friendly synthetic routes, such as wet chemistry and biosynthesis with the aid of polymers, are of particular interest. Polymers can act as reducing and/or capping agents, or as soft templates leading to hybrid nanomaterials. This methodology allows control of the synthesis and stability of nanomaterials with novel properties. Thus, this review focus on a fundamental study of AuNPs properties and different techniques to characterize them, e.g., Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), UV-Visible spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Small-angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS), and rheology. Recently, AuNPs obtained by “green” synthesis have been applied in catalysis, in medicine, and as antibacterials, sensors, among others.

Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles Using Mimosa tenuiflora Extract, Assessments of Cytotoxicity, Cellular Uptake, and Catalysis

Synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with plant extracts has gained great interest in the field of biomedicine due to its wide variety of health applications. In the present work, AuNPs were synthesized with Mimosa tenuiflora (Mt) bark extract at different metallic precursor concentrations. Mt extract was obtained by mixing the tree bark in ethanol-water. The antioxidant capacity of extract was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and total polyphenol assay. AuNPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry for functional group determination onto their surface. AuMt (colloids formed by AuNPs and molecules of Mt) exhibit multiple shapes with sizes between 20 and 200 nm. AuMt were tested on methylene blue degradation in homogeneous catalysis adding sodium borohydride. The smallest NPs (AuMt1) have a degradation coefficient of 0.008/s and reach 50% degradation in 190s. Cell viability and cytotoxicity were evaluated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), and a moderate cytotoxic effect at 24 and 48 h was found. However, toxicity does not behave in a dose-dependent manner. Cellular internalization of AuMt on HUVEC cells was analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy. For AuMt1, it can be observed that the material is dispersed into the cytoplasm, while in AuMt2, the material is concentrated in the nuclear periphery.

Injectable Hydrogels for Localized Cancer Therapy

Traditional intravenous chemotherapy is relative to many systemic side effects, including myelosuppression, liver or kidney dysfunction, and neurotoxicity. As an alternative method, the injectable hydrogel can efficiently avoid these problems by releasing drugs topically at the tumor site. With advantages of localized drug toxicity in the tumor site, proper injectable hydrogel as the drug delivery system has become a research hotspot. Based on different types and stages of cancer, a variety of hydrogel drug delivery systems were developed, including thermosensitive, pH-sensitive, photosensitive, and dual-sensitive hydrogel. In this review, the latest developments of these hydrogels and related drug delivery systems were summarized. In summary, our increasing knowledge of injectable hydrogel for localized cancer therapy ensures us that it is a more durable and effective approach than traditional chemotherapy. Smart release system reacting to different stimuli at different time according to the micro-environment changes in the tumor site is a promising tendency for further studies.