Folate-Functionalized DNA Origami for Targeted Delivery of Doxorubicin to Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

miR-21 Responsive Nanocarrier Targeting Ovarian Cancer Cells

In recent years, DNA origami-based nanocarriers have been extensively utilized for efficient cancer therapy. However, developing a nanocarrier capable of effectively protecting cargos such as RNA remains a challenge. In this study, we designed a compact and controllable DNA tubular origami (DTO) measuring 120 nm in length and 18 nm in width. The DTO exhibited appropriate structural characteristics for encapsulating and safeguarding cargo. Inside the DTO, we incorporated 20 connecting points to facilitate the delivery of cargoes to various ovarian and normal epithelial cell lines. Specifically, fluorescent-labeled DNA strands were attached to these sites as cargoes. The DTO was engineered to open upon encountering miR-21 through RNA/DNA strand displacement. Significantly, for the first time, we inhibited fluorescence using the compact DNA nanotube and observed dynamic fluorescent signals, indicating the controllable opening of DTO through live-cell imaging. Our results demonstrated that the DTO remained properly closed, exhibited effective internalization in ovarian cancer cells in vitro, showcasing marked differential expression of miR-21, and efficiently opened with short-term exposure to miR-21. Leveraging its autonomous behavior and compact design, the DTO emerges as a promising nanocarrier for various clinically relevant materials. It holds significant application prospects in anti-cancer therapy and the development of flexible biosensors.

Application of graphene oxide in tumor targeting and tumor therapy

Graphene oxide (GO), as a kind of two-dimensional sp2 carbon nanomaterials, has attracted great attention in many fields in the past decade. Due to its unique physical and chemical properties, GO is showing great promise in the field of biomedicine. For GO, all the atoms on its surface are exposed to the surface with ultra-high specific surface area, and a variety of groups on the surface, such as carboxyl, hydroxyl and epoxy groups, can effectively bind/load various biomolecules. Due to the availability of these groups, GO also possesses excellent hydrophilicity and biocompatibility for the modification of the desired biocompatible molecules or polymers on the surface of GO. The nano-network structure and hydrophobicity of GO enable it to load a large number of hydrophobic drugs containing benzene rings and it has been widely used as a multi-functional nano-carrier for chemotherapeutic drug or gene delivery. This review article will give an in-depth overview of the synthesis methods of GO, the advantages and disadvantages of GO used in nano-drug delivery system, the research progress of GO as a stimulus-responsive nano-drug carrier, and the application of these intelligent systems in cancer treatment.

Nano-Bio Interactions between DNA Nanocages and Human Serum Albumin

DNA nanostructures have emerged as promising nanomedical tools due to their biocompatibility and tunable behavior. Recent work has shown that DNA nanocages decorated with organic dendrimers strongly bind human serum albumin (HSA), yet the dynamic structures of these complexes remain uncharacterized. This theoretical and computational investigation elucidates the fuzzy interactions between dendritically functionalized cubic DNA nanocages and HSA. The dendrimer-HSA interactions occur via nonspecific binding with the protein thermodynamically and kinetically free to cross the open faces of the cubic scaffold. However, the rigidity of the DNA scaffold prevents the binding energetics from scaling with the number of dendrimers. These discoveries not only provide a useful framework by which to model general interactions of DNA nanostructures complexed with serum proteins but also give valuable molecular insight into the design of next-generation DNA nanomedicines.

Functional nucleic acids for the treatment of diabetic complications

In recent decades, diabetes mellitus (DM) has become a major global health problem owing to its high prevalence and increased incidence of diabetes-associated complications, including diabetic wounds (DWs), diabetic nephropathy, metabolic syndrome, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic neuropathy. In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, tissue damage is organ-specific, but closely related to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hyperglycaemia-induced macrovascular system damage. However, existing therapies have limited effects on complete healing of diabetic complications. Fortunately, recent advances in functional nucleic acid materials have provided new opportunities for the treatment and diagnosis of diabetic complications. Functional nucleic acids possess independent structural functions that can replace traditional proteases and antibodies and perform specific biological non-genetic functions. This review summarises the current functional nucleic acid materials reported for the treatment of diabetic complications, including tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNAs), short interfering RNA (siRNA), micorRNA (miRNA), locked nucleic acids, antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), and DNA origami, which may assist in the development of novel nucleic acids with new functions and capabilities for better healing of diabetic complications.

Advanced applications of DNA nanostructures dominated by DNA origami in antitumor drug delivery

DNA origami is a cutting-edge DNA self-assembly technique that neatly folds DNA strands and creates specific structures based on the complementary base pairing principle. These innovative DNA origami nanostructures provide numerous benefits, including lower biotoxicity, increased stability, and superior adaptability, making them an excellent choice for transporting anti-tumor agents. Furthermore, they can considerably reduce side effects and improve therapy success by offering precise, targeted, and multifunctional drug delivery system. This comprehensive review looks into the principles and design strategies of DNA origami, providing valuable insights into this technology's latest research achievements and development trends in the field of anti-tumor drug delivery. Additionally, we review the key function and major benefits of DNA origami in cancer treatment, some of these approaches also involve aspects related to DNA tetrahedra, aiming to provide novel ideas and effective solutions to address drug delivery challenges in cancer therapy.

Unravelling the Drug Encapsulation Ability of Functional DNA Origami Nanostructures: Current Understanding and Future Prospects on Targeted Drug Delivery

Rapid breakthroughs in nucleic acid nanotechnology have always driven the creation of nano-assemblies with programmable design, potent functionality, good biocompatibility, and remarkable biosafety during the last few decades. Researchers are constantly looking for more powerful techniques that provide enhanced accuracy with greater resolution. The self-assembly of rationally designed nanostructures is now possible because of bottom-up structural nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) nanotechnology, notably DNA origami. Because DNA origami nanostructures can be organized precisely with nanoscale accuracy, they serve as a solid foundation for the exact arrangement of other functional materials for use in a number of applications in structural biology, biophysics, renewable energy, photonics, electronics, medicine, etc. DNA origami facilitates the creation of next-generation drug vectors to help in the solving of the rising demand on disease detection and therapy, as well as other biomedicine-related strategies in the real world. These DNA nanostructures, generated using Watson-Crick base pairing, exhibit a wide variety of properties, including great adaptability, precise programmability, and exceptionally low cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. This paper summarizes the synthesis of DNA origami and the drug encapsulation ability of functionalized DNA origami nanostructures. Finally, the remaining obstacles and prospects for DNA origami nanostructures in biomedical sciences are also highlighted.

Organic Nanodelivery Systems as a New Platform in the Management of Breast Cancer: A Comprehensive Review from Preclinical to Clinical Studies

Breast cancer accounts for approximately 25% of cancer cases and 16.5% of cancer deaths in women, and the World Health Organization predicts that the number of new cases will increase by almost 70% over the next two decades, mainly due to an ageing population. Effective diagnostic and treatment strategies are, therefore, urgently required for improving cure rates among patients since current therapeutic modalities have many limitations and side effects. Nanomedicine is evolving as a promising approach for cancer management, including breast cancer, and various types of organic and inorganic nanomaterials have been investigated for their role in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Following an overview on breast cancer characteristics and pathogenesis and challenges of the current treatment strategies, the therapeutic potential of biocompatible organic-based nanoparticles such as liposomes and polymeric micelles that have been tested in breast cancer models are reviewed. The efficacies of different drug delivery and targeting strategies are documented, ranging from synthetic to cell-derived nanoformulations together with a summary of the interaction of nanoparticles with externally applied energy such as radiotherapy. The clinical translation of nanoformulations for breast cancer treatment is summarized including those undergoing clinical trials.

Functionalizing DNA origami to investigate and interact with biological systems

DNA origami has emerged as a powerful method to generate DNA nanostructures with dynamic properties and nanoscale control. These nanostructures enable complex biophysical studies and the fabrication of next-generation therapeutic devices. For these applications, DNA origami typically needs to be functionalized with bioactive ligands and biomacromolecular cargos. Here, we review methods developed to functionalize, purify, and characterize DNA origami nanostructures. We identify remaining challenges, such as limitations in functionalization efficiency and characterization. We then discuss where researchers can contribute to further advance the fabrication of functionalized DNA origami.

Functionalized-DNA nanostructures as potential targeted drug delivery systems for cancer therapy

Seeman's pioneer idea has led to the foundation of DNA nanostructures, resulting in a remarkable advancement in DNA nanotechnology. Over the last few decades, remarkable advances in drug delivery techniques have resulted in the self-assembly of DNA for encapsulating candidate drug molecules. The nuclear targeting capability of DNA nanostructures is lies within their high spatial addressability and tremendous potential for active targeting. However, effective programming and assembling those DNA molecules remains a challenge, making the path to DNA nanostructures for real-world applications difficult. Because of their small size, most nanostructures are self-capable of infiltrating into the tumor cellular environment. Furthermore, to enable controlled and site-specific delivery of encapsulated drug molecules, DNA nanostructures are functionalized with special moieties that allow them to bind specific targets and release cargo only at targeted sites rather than non-specific sites, resulting in the prevention/limitation of cellular toxicity. In light of this, the current review seeks to shed light on the versatility of the DNA molecule as a targeting and encapsulating moiety for active drugs in order to achieve controlled and specific drug release with spatial and temporal precision. Furthermore, this review focused on the challenges associated with the construction of DNA nanostructures as well as the most recent advances in the functionalization of DNA nanostructures using various materials for controlled and targeted delivery of medications for cancer therapy.

Structured Aptamers: A Flourishing Nanomaterial for Tumor Targeting

Structured aptamers are nucleic acid systems produced using DNA nano self-assembly technology and can be constructed in a programmable manner. These aptamers are widely used in biomedical fields because of their low biological toxicity, weak immunogenicity, good cytocompatibility and biocompatibility, stability, and facile modification ability. Additionally, structured aptamers achieve nano precision in spatial configuration and can be directly internalized into targets without the assistance of transfection reagents. They exhibit higher stability, rigidity, and binding efficiency than aptamers alone. Therefore, structured aptamers have been universally applied in the tumor-targeting field and have emerged as a current research hotspot. Here, we introduce the assembly principle, assembly methods, and characterization methods of structured aptamers. Moreover, the application status of structured aptamers for tumor detection and targeted therapy is summarized to provide new research directions for early diagnosis and drug research in the field of oncology.

Promoting Apoptosis, a Promising Way to Treat Breast Cancer With Natural Products: A Comprehensive Review

Breast cancer is one of the top-ranked malignant carcinomas associated with morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Chemotherapy is one of the main approaches to breast cancer treatment. Breast cancer initially responds to traditional first- and second-line drugs (aromatase inhibitor, tamoxifen, and carboplatin), but eventually acquires resistance, and certain patients relapse within 5 years. Chemotherapeutic drugs also have obvious toxic effects. In recent years, natural products have been widely used in breast cancer research because of their low side effects, low toxicity, and good efficacy based on their multitarget therapy. Apoptosis, a programmed cell death, occurs as a normal and controlled process that promotes cell growth and death. Inducing apoptosis is an important strategy to control excessive breast cancer cell proliferation. Accumulating evidence has revealed that natural products become increasingly important in breast cancer treatment by suppressing cell apoptosis. In this study, we reviewed current studies on natural product–induced breast cancer cell apoptosis and summarized the proapoptosis mechanisms including mitochondrial, FasL/Fas, PI3K/AKT, reactive oxygen species, and mitogen-activated protein kinase–mediated pathway. We hope that our review can provide direction in the search for candidate drugs derived from natural products to treat breast cancer by promoting cell apoptosis.

DNA Nanodevice-Based Drug Delivery Systems

DNA, a natural biological material, has become an ideal choice for biomedical applications, mainly owing to its good biocompatibility, ease of synthesis, modifiability, and especially programmability. In recent years, with the deepening of the understanding of the physical and chemical properties of DNA and the continuous advancement of DNA synthesis and modification technology, the biomedical applications based on DNA materials have been upgraded to version 2.0: through elaborate design and fabrication of smart-responsive DNA nanodevices, they can respond to external or internal physical or chemical stimuli so as to smartly perform certain specific functions. For tumor treatment, this advancement provides a new way to solve the problems of precise targeting, controllable release, and controllable elimination of drugs to a certain extent. Here, we review the progress of related fields over the past decade, and provide prospects for possible future development directions.