The Effectiveness of Nanoparticles on Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma Cells Apoptosis: A Systematic Review

A Systematic Review of Nanomedicine in Glioblastoma Treatment: Clinical Efficacy, Safety, and Future Directions

(1) Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is categorized as a grade IV astrocytoma by the World Health Organization (WHO), representing the most aggressive and prevalent form of glioma. It presents a significant clinical challenge, with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. This systematic review evaluates the efficacy and safety of various nanotherapy approaches for GBM and explores future directions in tumor management. Nanomedicine, which involves nanoparticles in the 1-100 nm range, shows promise in improving drug delivery and targeting tumor cells. (2) Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of databases including Google Scholar, NCBI PubMed, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted to identify clinical trials on GBM and nanomedicine. The primary outcome measures were median overall survival, progression-free survival, and quality of life assessed through Karnofsky performance scores. The safety profile was assessed by adverse events. (3) Results: The analysis included 225 GBM patients, divided into primary and recurrent sub-populations. Primary GBM patients had a median overall survival of 6.75 months, while recurrent GBM patients had a median overall survival of 9.7 months. The mean PFS period was 2.3 months and 3.92 months in primary GBM and recurrent GBM patients, respectively. Nanotherapy showed an improvement in quality of life, with KPS scores increasing after treatment in recurrent GBM patients. Adverse events were observed in 14.2% of patients. Notably, Bevacizumab therapy exhibited better survival outcomes but with a higher incidence of adverse events. (4) Conclusions: Nanotherapy offers a modest increase in survival with fewer severe side effects. It shows promise in improving the quality of life, especially in recurrent GBM patients. However, it falls short in terms of overall survival compared to Bevacizumab. The heterogeneous nature of treatment protocols and reporting methods highlights the need for standardized multicenter trials to further evaluate the potential of nanomedicine in GBM management.

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches for Glioblastoma and Neuroblastoma Cancers Using Chlorotoxin Nanoparticles

Glioblastoma multiforme (GB) and high-risk neuroblastoma (NB) are known to have poor therapeutic outcomes. As for most cancers, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the current mainstay treatments for GB and NB. However, the known limitations of systemic toxicity, drug resistance, poor targeted delivery, and inability to access the blood-brain barrier (BBB), make these treatments less satisfactory. Other treatment options have been investigated in many studies in the literature, especially nutraceutical and naturopathic products, most of which have also been reported to be poorly effective against these cancer types. This necessitates the development of treatment strategies with the potential to cross the BBB and specifically target cancer cells. Compounds that target the endopeptidase, matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2), have been reported to offer therapeutic insights for GB and NB since MMP-2 is known to be over-expressed in these cancers and plays significant roles in such physiological processes as angiogenesis, metastasis, and cellular invasion. Chlorotoxin (CTX) is a promising 36-amino acid peptide isolated from the venom of the deathstalker scorpion, Leiurus quinquestriatus, demonstrating high selectivity and binding affinity to a broad-spectrum of cancers, especially GB and NB through specific molecular targets, including MMP-2. The favorable characteristics of nanoparticles (NPs) such as their small sizes, large surface area for active targeting, BBB permeability, etc. make CTX-functionalized NPs (CTX-NPs) promising diagnostic and therapeutic applications for addressing the many challenges associated with these cancers. CTX-NPs may function by improving diffusion through the BBB, enabling increased localization of chemotherapeutic and genotherapeutic drugs to diseased cells specifically, enhancing imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), optical imaging techniques, image-guided surgery, as well as improving the sensitization of radio-resistant cells to radiotherapy treatment. This review discusses the characteristics of GB and NB cancers, related treatment challenges as well as the potential of CTX and its functionalized NP formulations as targeting systems for diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic purposes. It also provides insights into the potential mechanisms through which CTX crosses the BBB to bind cancer cells and provides suggestions for the development and application of novel CTX-based formulations for the diagnosis and treatment of GB and NB in the future.

Identification of novel immune ferroptosis-related genes associated with clinical and prognostic features in breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women, it is critical to identify potential targets and prognostic biomarkers. Ferroptosis combined with immunity shows a pivotal role in a variety of tumors, which provides new opportunities to detect and treat breast cancer. Methods: Our first step was to combine multiple datasets to search for immune ferroptosis-related mRNAs. In the next step, risk signatures were created using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). After that, based on the results of the multivariate Cox analysis, we created a prognostic nomogram and validated the model's accuracy. Finally, functional enrichment analysis, single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), immunity and drug sensitivity correlation analysis were performed to explore the possible mechanisms by which these immune ferroptosis associated mRNAs affect BRCA survival. Results: An immune ferroptosis signature (IFRSig) consisting of 5 mRNAs was constructed and showed excellent predictability in the training and validation cohorts. A correlation analysis revealed that clinical characteristics were closely related to risk characteristics. Our nomogram model, which we created by combining risk characteristics and clinical parameters, was proven to be accurate at predicting BRCA prognosis. Further, we divided patients into lowrisk and high-risk groups based on the expression of the model-related genes. Compared with low-risk group, high-risk group showed lower levels of immune cell infiltration, immune-related functions, and immune checkpoints molecules, which may associate with the poor prognosis. Discussion: The IFRSig could be used to predict overall survival (OS) and treatment response in BRCA patients and could be viewed as an independent prognostic factor. The findings in this study shed light on the role of immune ferroptosis in the progression of BRCA.

Multimodal targeting of glioma with functionalized nanoparticles

The most common and aggressive primitive intracranial tumor of the central nervous system is the glioma. The blood–brain barrier (BBB) has proven to be a significant obstacle to the effective treatment of glioma. To effectively treat glioma, different ways have been used to cross the BBB to deliver drugs to the brain. Drug delivery through nanocarriers proves to be an effective and non-invasive technique for the treatment of glioma and has great potential in the treatment of glioma. In this review, we will provide an overview of nanocarrier-mediated drug delivery and related glioma therapy. Nanocarrier-mediated drug delivery techniques to cross the BBB (liposomes, micelles, inorganic systems, polymeric nanoparticles, nanogel system, and biomimetic nanoparticles) are explored. Finally, the use of nanotherapeutic approaches in the treatment of glioblastoma including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, photothermal therapy, gene therapy, glioma genome editing, immunotherapy, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells, immune checkpoint modulators, immune photothermal therapy, vaccine-based immunotherapy, and combination therapy is summarized. Furthermore, this article offers various views on the clinical applicability of nanomedicine.

CPP-Based Bioactive Drug Delivery to Penetrate the Blood-Brain Barrier: A Potential Therapy for Glioblastoma Multiforme

BACKGROUND

A large number of studies have been conducted on the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Chemotherapeutic drugs cannot penetrate deeply into the brain parenchyma due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Hence, crossing BBB is the significant obstacle in developing new therapeutic methods for GBM.

OBJECTIVE

Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have emerged as new tools that can efficiently deliver various substances across BBB. CPPs beneficial properties, such as BBB penetration capacity, low toxicity, and the ability to achieve active targeting and controllable drug release, have made them worthy candidates for GBM treatment. However, their application is limited by several drawbacks, including lack of selectivity, insufficient transport efficacy, and low stability. In order to overcome the selectivity issue, tumor targeting peptides and sequences that can be activated at the target site have been embedded into the structure of CPPs. To overcome their insufficient transport efficacy into the cells, which is mostly due to endosomal entrapment, various endosomolytic moieties have been incorporated into CPPs. Finally, their instability in blood circulation can be solved through different modifications to their structures. As this field is moving beyond preclinical studies, the discovery of new and more efficient CPPs for GBM treatment has become crucial. Thus, by using display techniques, such as phage display, this encouraging treatment strategy can be developed further.

CONCLUSION

Consequently, despite several challenges in CPPs application, recent progress in studies has shown their potential for the development of the next generation GBM therapeutics.

Anticancer Potential of Temozolomide-Loaded Eudragit-Chitosan Coated Selenium Nanoparticles: In Vitro Evaluation of Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis and Gene Regulation

Resistance to temozolomide (TMZ) is the main cause of death in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The use of nanocarriers for drug delivery applications is one of the known approaches to overcome drug resistance. This study aimed to investigate the possible effect of selenium-chitosan nanoparticles loaded with TMZ on the efficacy of TMZ on the expression of MGMT, E2F6, and RELA genes and the rate of apoptosis in the C6 cell line. Selenium nanoparticles (SNPs) were loaded with TMZ and then they were coated by Eudragit® RS100 (Eud) and chitosan (CS) to prepare Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs. Physicochemical properties were determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs was evaluated for loading and release of TMZ by spectrophotometric method. Subsequently, SNPs loaded with curcumin (as a fluorophore) were analyzed for in vitro uptake by C6 cells. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis assay were measured by MTT assay and Annexin-PI methods. Finally, real-time PCR was utilized to determine the expression of MGMT, E2F6, and RELA genes. Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs was prepared with an average size of 200 nm as confirmed by the DLS and microscopical methods. Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs presented 82.77 ± 5.30 loading efficiency with slow and pH-sensitive release kinetics. SNPs loaded with curcumin showed a better uptake performance by C6 cells compared with free curcumin (p-value < 0.01). Coated nanoparticles loaded with TMZ showed higher cytotoxicity, apoptosis (p-value < 0.0001), and down-regulation of MGMT, E2F6, and RELA and lower IC50 value (p-value < 0.0001) than free TMZ and control (p-value < 0.0001) groups. Using Cs as a targeting agent in Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs system improved the possibility for targeted drug delivery to C6 cells. This drug delivery system enhanced the apoptosis rate and decreased the expression of genes related to TMZ resistance. In conclusion, Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs may be an option for the enhancement of TMZ efficiency in GBM treatment.