Advances in Natural or Synthetic Nanoparticles for Metastatic Melanoma Therapy and Diagnosis

Glucose-modified BSA/procyanidin C1 NPs penetrate the blood-brain barrier and alleviate neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease models

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease with high prevalence, long duration and poor prognosis. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a physiologic barrier in the central nervous system, which hinders the entry of most drugs into the brain from the blood, thus affecting the efficacy of drugs for AD. Natural products are recognized as one of the promising and unique therapeutic approaches to treat AD. To improve the efficiency and therapeutic effect of the drug across the BBB, a natural polyphenolic compound, procyanidin C-1 (C1) was encapsulated in glucose-functionalized bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles to construct Glu-BSA/C1 NPs in our study. Glu-BSA/C1 NPs exhibited good stability, slow release, biocompatibility and antioxidant properties. In addition, Glu-BSA/C1 NPs penetrated the BBB, accumulated in the brain by targeting Glut1, and maintained the BBB integrity both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, Glu-BSA/C1 NPs alleviated memory impairment of 5 × FAD mice by reducing Aβ deposition and Tau phosphorylation and promoting neurogenesis. Mechanistically, Glu-BSA/C1 NPs significantly activated the PI3K/AKT pathway and inhibited the NLRP3/Caspase-1/IL-1β pathway thereby suppressing neuroinflammation. Taken together, Glu-BSA/C1 NPs could penetrate the BBB and mitigate neuroinflammation in AD, which provides a new therapeutic approach targeting AD.

Development of nanoemulgel of 5-Fluorouracil for skin melanoma using glycyrrhizin as a penetration enhancer

The purpose of this study was to enhance the topical delivery of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a cancer treatment, by developing a nanoemulgel formulation. Glycyrrhizin (GLY), a natural penetration enhancer has been investigated to exhibit synergistic effects with 5-FU in inhibiting melanoma cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis, Hence, GLY, along with suitable lipids was utilized to create an optimized nanoemulsion (NE) based gel. Solubility studies and ternary phase diagram revealed isopropyl myristate (IPM), Span 80, Tween 80 as Smix and Transcutol P as co-surfactant. IPM demonstrates excellent solubilizing properties facilitates higher drug loading, ensuring efficient delivery to the target site.,The optimized formulation consisting of 40 % IPM, 30 % of mixture of Tween80: Span80 (Smix) and 15 % Transcutol P provides with a nanometric size of 64.1 ± 5.13 nm and drug loading of 97.3 ± 5.83 %. The optimized formulation observed with no creaming and breakeing of NE and found thermodynamically stable during different stress conditions (temperatures of 4.0 °C and 45.0 °C) and physical thawing (-21.0 ± 0.50 °C to 20.0 ± 0.50 °C). The NE was then transformed into a nanoemulgel (NEG) using 1.5 % w/w Carbopol base and 0.1 % w/w glycyrrhizin. The ex vivo permeability studies showed significant enhancements in drug permeability with the GLY-based 5-FU-NEG formulation compared to pure 5-FU gel in excised pig skin upto1440 min in PBS 7.4 as receptor media. The IC50 values for Plain 5-FU gel, 5-FU-NEG, and GLY-based 5-FU-NEG were found to be 20 µg/mL, 1.1 µg/mL, and 0.1 µg/mL, respectively in B16F10 cell lines. The percentage intracellular uptake of GLY-5-FU-NEG and 5-FU-NEG was found to be 44.3 % and 53.6 %, respectively. GLY-based 5-FU-NEG formulation showed alterations in cell cycle distribution, in compared to 5-FU-NE gel. The overall findings suggest that the GLY-based 5-FU-NEG holds promise for improving anti-melanoma activity.

Fanarraga M. Carbon nanotubes targeted to the tumor microenvironment inhibit metastasis in a preclinical model of melanoma

Despite notable progress in cancer therapy, metastatic diseases continue to be the primary cause of cancer-related mortality. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can enter tissues and cells and interfere with the dynamics of the cytoskeletal nanofilaments biomimetically. This endows them with intrinsic anti-tumoral effects comparable to those of microtubule-binding chemotherapies such as Taxol®. In this study, our focus was on exploring the potential of oxidized MWCNTs in selectively targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR). Our objective was to evaluate their effectiveness in inhibiting metastatic growth by inducing anti-proliferative, anti-migratory, and cytotoxic effects on both cancer and tumor microenvironment cells. Our findings demonstrated a significant reduction of over 80 % in malignant melanoma lung metastases and a substantial enhancement in overall animal welfare following intravenous administration of the targeted biodegradable MWCNTs. Furthermore, the combination of these nanomaterials with the conventional chemotherapy agent Taxol® yielded a remarkable 90 % increase in the antimetastatic effect. These results highlight the promising potential of this combined therapeutic approach against metastatic disease and are of paramount importance as metastasis is responsible for nearly 60,000 deaths each year.

MiR126-targeted-nanoparticles combined with PI3K/AKT inhibitor as a new strategy to overcome melanoma resistance

Metastatic melanoma poses significant challenges as a highly lethal disease. Despite the success of molecular targeting using BRAFV600E inhibitors (BRAFis) and immunotherapy, the emergence of early recurrence remains an issue and there is the need for novel therapeutic approaches. This study aimed at creating a targeted delivery system for the oncosuppressor microRNA 126 (miR126) and testing its effectiveness in combination with a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (AKT) inhibitor for treating metastatic melanoma resistant to BRAFis. To achieve this, we synthesized chitosan nanoparticles containing a chemically modified miR126 sequence. These nanoparticles were further functionalized with an antibody specific to the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4) melanoma marker. After evaluation in vitro, the efficacy of this treatment was evaluated through an in vivo experiment using mice bearing resistant human melanoma. The co-administration of miR126 and the PI3K/AKT inhibitor in these experiments significantly reduced tumor growth and inhibited the formation of liver and lung metastases. These results provide evidence for a strategy to target an oncosuppressive nucleic acid sequence to tumor cells while simultaneously protecting it from plasma degradation. The system described in this study exhibits encouraging potential for the effective treatment of therapy-resistant metastatic melanoma while also presenting a prospective approach for other forms of cancer.

A photothermal driven chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma

Solid tumors are abnormal mass of tissue, which affects the organs based on its malignancy and leads to the dysfunction of the affected organs. The major problem associated with treatment of solid tumors is delivering anticancer therapeutics to the deepest layers/core of the solid tumor. Deposition of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) hinders the therapeutics to travel towards the core of the tumor. Therefore, conventional anticancer therapeutics can only reduce the tumor size and that also for a limited duration, and tumor recurrence occurs once the therapy is discontinued. Additionally, by the time the cancer is diagnosed, the cancer cells already started affecting the major organs of the body such as lung, liver, spleen, kidney, and brain, due to their ability to metastasize and lung is the primary site for them to be infiltrated. To facilitate the anticancer therapeutics to penetrate the deeper layers of tumor, and to provide concurrent treatment of both the solid tumor and metastasis, we have designed and developed a Bimodal Light Assisted Skin Tumor and Metastasis Treatment (BLAST), which is a combination of photothermal and chemotherapeutic moieties. The BLAST is composed of 2D boron nitride (BN) nanosheet with adsorbed molecules of BCL-2 inhibitor, Navitoclax (NAVI) on its surface, that can breakdown excessive ECM network and thereby facilitate dissociation of the solid tumor. The developed BLAST was evaluated for its ability to penetrate solid tumors using 3D spheroids for the uptake, cytotoxicity, growth inhibition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, penetration, and downregulation of proteins upon laser irradiation. The in vivo therapeutic studies on a skin cancer mice model revealed that the BLAST with and without laser were able to penetrate the solid tumor, reduce tumor volume in mice, dissociate the protein network, and prevent lung metastasis as confirmed by immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Post analysis of serum and blood components revealed the safety and efficacy of BLAST in mice. Hence, the developed BLAST holds strong promise in solid tumor treatment and metastasis prevention simultaneously.

Melanoma Cells Produce Large Vesicular-Bodies That Cause Rapid Disruption of Brain Endothelial Barrier-Integrity and Disassembly of Junctional Proteins

It is known that many cells produce extracellular vesicles, and this includes a range of different cancer cell types. Here we demonstrate the profound effects of large vesicular-like bodies produced by melanoma cells on the barrier integrity of human brain endothelial cells. These vesicular-bodies have not been fully characterised but range in size from ~500 nm to >10 µm, are surrounded by membrane and are enzymatically active based on cell-tracker incorporation. Their size is consistent with previously reported large oncosomes and apoptotic bodies. We demonstrate that these melanoma-derived vesicular-bodies rapidly affect brain endothelial barrier integrity, measured using ECIS biosensor technology, where the disruption is evident within ~60 min. This disruption involves acquisition of the vesicles through transcellular uptake into the endothelial cells. We also observed extensive actin-rearrangement, actin removal from the paracellular boundary of the endothelial cells and envelopment of the vesicular-bodies by actin. This was concordant with widespread changes in CD144 localisation, which was consistent with the loss of junctional strength. High-resolution confocal imaging revealed proximity of the melanoma vesicular-bodies juxtaposed to the endothelial nucleus, often containing fragmented DNA themselves, raising speculation over this association and potential delivery of nuclear material into the brain endothelial cells. The disruption of the endothelial cells occurs in a manner that is faster and completely distinct to that of invasion by intact melanoma cells. Given the clinical observation of large vesicles in the circulation of melanoma patients by others, we hypothesize their involvement in weakening or priming the brain vasculature for melanoma invasion.

Dendrimers as Modifiers of Inorganic Nanoparticles for Therapeutic Delivery in Cancer

The formulation of nanoscale systems with well-defined sizes and shapes is of great interest in applications such as drug and gene delivery, diagnostics and imaging. Dendrimers are polymers that have attracted interest due to their size, shape, branching length, amine density, and surface functionalities. These unique characteristics of dendrimers set them apart from other polymers, their ability to modify nanoparticles (NPs) for biomedical applications. Dendrimers are spherical with multiple layers over their central core, each representing a generation. Their amphiphilic nature and hollow structure allow for the incorporation of multiple drugs or genes, in addition to enabling easy surface modification with cellular receptor-targeting moieties to ensure site-specific delivery of therapeutics. Dendrimers are employed in chemotherapeutic applications for the delivery of anticancer drugs. There are many inorganic NPs currently being investigated for cancer therapy, each with their own unique biological, chemical, and physical properties. To favor biomedical applications, inorganic NPs require suitable polymers to ensure stability, biodegradability and target specificity. The success of dendrimers is dependent on their unique structure, good bioavailability and stability. In this review, we describe the properties of dendrimers and their use as modifiers of inorganic NPs for enhanced therapeutic delivery. Herein, we review the significant developments in this area from 2015 to 2022. Databases including Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct, BioMed Central (BMC), and PubMed were searched for articles using dendrimers, inorganic nanoparticles and cancer as keywords.

Preclinical validation of a new hybrid molecule loaded in liposomes for melanoma management

The aggressiveness of melanoma and lack of effective therapies incite the discovery of novel strategies. Recently, a new dual acting hybrid molecule (HM), combining a triazene and a ʟ-tyrosine analogue, was synthesized. HM was designed to specifically be activated by tyrosinase, the enzyme involved in melanin biosynthesis and overexpressed in melanoma. HM displayed remarkable superior antiproliferative activity towards various cancer cell lines compared with temozolomide (TMZ), a triazene drug in clinical use, that acts through DNA alkylation. In B16-F10 cells, HM induced a cell cycle arrest at phase G0/G1 with a 2.8-fold decrease in cell proliferation index. Also, compared to control cells, HM led to a concentration-dependent reduction in tyrosinase activity and increase in caspase 3/7 activity. To maximize the therapeutic performance of HM in vivo, its incorporation in long blood circulating liposomes, containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) at their surface, was performed for passively targeting tumour sites. HM liposomes (LIP HM) exhibited high stability in biological fluids. Preclinical studies demonstrated its safety for systemic administration and in a subcutaneous murine melanoma model, significantly reduced tumour progression. In a metastatic murine melanoma model, a superior antitumour effect was also observed for mice receiving LIP HM, with markedly reduction of lung metastases compared to positive control group (TMZ). Biodistribution studies using ¹¹¹In-labelled LIP HM demonstrated its ability for passively targeting tumour sites, thus correlating with the high therapeutic effect observed in the two experimental murine melanoma models. Overall, our proposed nanotherapeutic strategy was validated as an effective and safe alternative against melanoma.

Basal Cell Carcinoma: Pathology, Current Clinical Treatment, and Potential Use of Lipid Nanoparticles

Skin cancer is the most common type of carcinoma diagnosed worldwide, with significant morbidity and mortality rates among Caucasians, in particular basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The main risk factors of BCC are well-identified, and there are many chemotherapeutic drugs available for its treatment. The effectiveness of therapeutic options is governed by several factors, including the location of the tumor, its size, and the presence of metastases (although rare for BCC). However, available treatments are based on non-targeted approaches, which encounter a significant risk of systemic toxicity in several organs. Site-specific chemotherapy for BCC has been proposed via the loading of anticancer drugs into nanoparticles. Among various types of nanoparticles, in this review, we focus on potential new regimens for the treatment of BCC using classical anticancer drugs loaded into novel lipid nanoparticles. To meet patient aesthetic expectations and enhance the effectiveness of basal cell carcinoma treatment, new therapeutic topical strategies are discussed, despite a limited number of reports available in the literature.

Chitosan Nanoparticle-Based System: A New Insight into the Promising Controlled Release System for Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer has been recognized as one of the most often diagnosed and perhaps most lethal cancer diseases worldwide. Conventional chemotherapy for lung cancer-related diseases has bumped into various limitations and challenges, including non-targeted drug delivery, short drug retention period, low therapeutic efficacy, and multidrug resistance (MDR). Chitosan (CS), a natural polymer derived from deacetylation of chitin, and comprised of arbitrarily distributed β-(1-4)-linked d-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (acetylated unit) that exhibits magnificent characteristics, including being mucoadhesive, biodegradable, and biocompatible, has emerged as an essential element for the development of a nano-particulate delivery vehicle. Additionally, the flexibility of CS structure due to the free protonable amino groups in the CS backbone has made it easy for the modification and functionalization of CS to be developed into a nanoparticle system with high adaptability in lung cancer treatment. In this review, the current state of chitosan nanoparticle (CNP) systems, including the advantages, challenges, and opportunities, will be discussed, followed by drug release mechanisms and mathematical kinetic models. Subsequently, various modification routes of CNP for improved and enhanced therapeutic efficacy, as well as other restrictions of conventional drug administration for lung cancer treatment, are covered.

NK Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment as New Potential Players Mediating Chemotherapy Effects in Metastatic Melanoma

Until the last decade, chemotherapy was the standard treatment for metastatic cutaneous melanoma, even with poor results. The introduction of immune checkpoints inhibitors (ICIs) radically changed the outcome, increasing 5-year survival from 5% to 60%. However, there is still a large portion of unresponsive patients that would need further therapies. NK cells are skin-resident innate cytotoxic lymphocytes that recognize and kill virus-infected as well as cancer cells thanks to a balance between inhibitory and activating signals delivered by surface molecules expressed by the target. Since NK cells are equipped with cytotoxic machinery but lack of antigen restriction and needing to be primed, they are nowadays gaining attention as an alternative to T cells to be exploited in immunotherapy. However, their usage suffers of the same limitations reported for T cells, that is the loss of immunogenicity by target cells and the difficulty to penetrate and be activated in the suppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Several evidence showed that chemotherapy used in metastatic melanoma therapy possess immunomodulatory properties that may restore NK cells functions within TME. Here, we will discuss the capability of such chemotherapeutics to: i) up-regulate melanoma cells susceptibility to NK cell-mediated killing, ii) promote NK cells infiltration within TME, iii) target other immune cell subsets that affect NK cells activities. Alongside traditional systemic melanoma chemotherapy, a new pharmacological strategy based on nanocarriers loaded with chemotherapeutics is developing. The use of nanotechnologies represents a very promising approach to improve drug tolerability and effectiveness thanks to the targeted delivery of the therapeutic molecules. Here, we will also discuss the recent developments in using nanocarriers to deliver anti-cancer drugs within the melanoma microenvironment in order to improve chemotherapeutics effects. Overall, we highlight the possibility to use standard chemotherapeutics, possibly delivered by nanosystems, to enhance NK cells anti-tumor cytotoxicity. Combined with immunotherapies targeting NK cells, this may represent a valuable alternative approach to treat those patients that do not respond to current ICIs.

Nanotechnology Addressing Cutaneous Melanoma: The Italian Landscape

Cutaneous melanoma is one of the most aggressive solid tumors, with a low survival for the metastatic stage. Currently, clinical melanoma treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy. Of note, innovative therapeutic regimens concern the administration of multitarget drugs in tandem, in order to improve therapeutic efficacy. However, also, if this drug combination is clinically relevant, the patient's response is not yet optimal. In this scenario, nanotechnology-based delivery systems can play a crucial role in the clinical treatment of advanced melanoma. In fact, their nano-features enable targeted drug delivery at a cellular level by overcoming biological barriers. Various nanomedicines have been proposed for the treatment of cutaneous melanoma, and a relevant number of them are undergoing clinical trials. In Italy, researchers are focusing on the pharmaceutical development of nanoformulations for malignant melanoma therapy. The present review reports an overview of the main melanoma-addressed nanomedicines currently under study in Italy, alongside the state of the art of melanoma therapy. Moreover, the latest Italian advances concerning the pre-clinical evaluation of nanomedicines for melanoma are described.

Ultrasound-Mediated Cavitation Enhances EGFR-Targeting PLGA-PEG Nano-Micelle Delivery for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatment

Simple Summary

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) with negative expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) is considered to be associated with poorer outcomes and a higher risk of recurrence or metastasis owing to a lack of effective targeted therapeutic drugs. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) functions is a driver of disease progression in most of TNBC that represents a viable target that can be leveraged to guide the intra-tumoral delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs in TNBC patients. Moreover, ultrasound-mediated cavitation (UMC) strategies increase tissue permeability and extravasation through nuclei-dependent cavitation via sonoporation, thus enabling drugs to better enter target tissues. In this research, a combination of active, targeting nano-micelles and UMC was able to inhibit TNBC tumor growth effectively at lower concentrations while reducing treatment-related toxicity. Thus, this is a very promising treatment strategy in the clinical therapy with TNBC and other cancer types.

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is highly recurring and metastatic breast cancer with overexpressing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Herein, a series of in vitro and in vivo analyses were used to explore the therapeutic effect of EGFR-targeting nano-micelles (PLGA-PEG/DOX@anti-EGFR) combined with ultrasound-mediated cavitation (UMC). The prepared nano-micelle drug carriers have good biocompatibility and can greatly increase the drug accumulation in tumor regions, thereby reducing off-target toxicity while enhancing anti-tumor efficacy. Moreover, an in vivo analysis of the practical utility of this treatment modality was conducted by using SonoVue^TM microbubbles to achieve cavitation under different power intensity levels, with an ultrasonic power intensity of 0.5 W/cm² maximizing the intra-tumoral blood perfusion. Relative to PLGA-PEG@DOX/anti-EGFR nano-micelles treatment alone, the combination with UMC was better able to suppress tumor growth even at low concentrations. As such, combining actively targeted drug-carrier molecules with UMC represents an effective approach to enhancing therapeutic efficacy while reducing the adverse, systemic effects associated with DOX and other chemotherapeutic drugs, and it can be considered as a promising clinical prospect in the treatment of TNBC.