Targeted nanomedicine for detection and treatment of circulating tumor cells

Vitamin E TPGS conjugated carbon nanotubes improved efficacy of docetaxel with safety for lung cancer treatment

The aim of this work was to develop multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), which were coated or covalently conjugated with d-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS), and loaded docetaxel as a model drug for effective treatment to lung cancer in comparison with the commercial docetaxel injection (Docel™). The human lung cancer cells (A549 cells) were employed as an in-vitro model to access cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, cellular apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) study of the docetaxel/coumarin-6 loaded MWCNT. The safety of MWCNT formulations were studied by the measurements of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and total protein levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of rats after the treatments. The IC50 values demonstrated that the TPGS conjugated MWCNT could be 80 folds more effective than Docel™ after 24h treatment with the A549 cells. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that cancerous cells were appeared significantly (P<0.05) in the sub G1 phase for TPGS conjugated MWCNT. Results of TPGS conjugated MWCNT have showed better efficacy with safety than non-coated or TPGS coated MWCNT and Docel™.

No king without a crown – impact of the nanomaterial-protein corona on nanobiomedicine

Besides the wide use of nanomaterials in technical products, their application spectrum in biotechnology and biomedicine is steadily increasing. Whereas the physico-chemical properties and behavior of nanomaterials can be engineered and characterized accurately under idealized conditions, this is no longer the case in complex physiological environments. In biological fluids, proteins rapidly bind to nanomaterials forming the protein corona, critically affecting the nanomaterials’ biological identity. As the corona impacts in vitro and/or in vivo nanomaterial applications, we here review the concept of the protein corona and its analytical dissection. We comment on how corona signatures may be linked to effects at the nano–bio interface and conclude how such knowledge is offering novel opportunities for improved nanomedicine.

Nanotheranostics - application and further development of nanomedicine strategies for advanced theranostics

Nanotheranostics is to apply and further develop nanomedicine strategies for advanced theranostics. This review summarizes the various nanocarriers developed so far in the literature for nanotheranostics, which include polymer conjugations, dendrimers, micelles, liposomes, metal and inorganic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and nanoparticles of biodegradable polymers for sustained, controlled and targeted co-delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents for better theranostic effects with fewer side effects. The theranostic nanomedicine can achieve systemic circulation, evade host defenses and deliver the drug and diagnostic agents at the targeted site to diagnose and treat the disease at cellular and molecular level. The therapeutic and diagnostic agents are formulated in nanomedicine as a single theranostic platform, which can then be further conjugated to biological ligand for targeting. Nanotheranostics can also promote stimuli-responsive release, synergetic and combinatory therapy, siRNA co-delivery, multimodality therapies, oral delivery, delivery across the blood-brain barrier as well as escape from intracellular autophagy. The fruition of nanotheranostics will be able to provide personalized therapy with bright prognosis, which makes even the fatal diseases curable or at least treatable at the earliest stage.

Circulating tumor cells in hepatocellular carcinoma: detection techniques, clinical implications, and future perspectives

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer with a huge challenge in terms of its complex etiology and its management. The fact that the most common site of early tumor recurrence in liver transplantation for HCC is the transplanted allograft strongly suggests that circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are really an active source of HCC metastasis or recurrence. In the past decade, with the tremendous progress in the technology of CTC detection, there is convincing evidence that CTCs have great potential as a marker for metastatic disease and poor prognosis in patients with a malignancy. Currently some interesting and encouraging results have been achieved in HCC CTC detection, although the knowledge about its clinical relevance in HCC is lagging behind other major tumor types. Here we will review existing and developing methodologies for CTC detection, discuss future perspectives, and describe the potential clinical impact of the identification and molecular characterization of CTC subset or circulating cancer stem cells in HCC patients. Particular attention is given to the results based on the HCC CTC study.

Tumor-targeting multi-functional nanoparticles for theragnosis: new paradigm for cancer therapy

Theragnostic nanoparticles (NPs) contain diagnostic and therapeutic functions in one integrated system, enabling diagnosis, therapy, and monitoring of therapeutic response at the same time. For diagnostic function, theragnostic NPs require the inclusion of noninvasive imaging modalities. Among them, optical imaging has various advantages including sensitivity, real-time and convenient use, and non-ionization safety, which make it the leading technique for theragnostic NPs. For therapeutic function, theragnostic NPs have been applied to chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, siRNA therapy and photothermal therapy. In this review, we present a recent progress reported in the development and applications of theragnostic NPs for cancer therapy. More specifically, we will focus on theragnostic NPs related with optical imaging, highlighting promising strategies based on optical imaging techniques.