Progress in nanotechnology based approaches to enhance the potential of chemopreventive agents

Advancements in curcumin-loaded PLGA nanoparticle delivery systems: progressive strategies in cancer therapy

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, and imposes a substantial socioeconomic burden with little impact especially on aggressive types of cancer. Conventional therapies have many serious side effects including generalised systemic toxicity which limits their long-term use. Tumour resistance and recurrence is another main problem associated with conventional therapy. Purified or extracted natural products have been investigated as cost-effective cancer chemoprotective agents with the potential to reverse or delaying carcinogenesis. Curcumin (CUR) as a natural polyphenolic component, exhibits many pharmacological activities such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, activity against neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer, antidiabetic activities (type II diabetes), anticoagulant properties, wound healing effects in both preclinical and clinical studies. Despite these effective protective properties, CUR has several limitations, including poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, chemical instability, rapid metabolism and a short half-life time. To overcome the pharmaceutical problems associated with free CUR, novel nanomedicine strategies (including polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) such as poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs have been developed. These formulations have the potential to improve the therapeutic efficacy of curcuminoids. In this review, we comprehensively summarise and discuss recent in vitro and in vivo studies to explore the pharmaceutical significance and clinical benefits of PLGA-NPs delivery system to improve the efficacy of CUR in the treatment of cancer.

Nano-based drug delivery systems for active ingredients from traditional Chinese medicine: Harnessing the power of nanotechnology

Introduction: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining worldwide popularity as a complementary and alternative medicine. The isolation and characterization of active ingredients from TCM has become optional strategies for drug development. In order to overcome the inherent limitations of these natural products such as poor water solubility and low bioavailability, the combination of nanotechnology with TCM has been explored. Taking advantage of the benefits offered by the nanoscale, various drug delivery systems have been designed to enhance the efficacy of TCM in the treatment and prevention of diseases. Methods: The manuscript aims to present years of research dedicated to the application of nanotechnology in the field of TCM. Results: The manuscript discusses the formulation, characteristics and therapeutic effects of nano-TCM. Additionally, the formation of carrier-free nanomedicines through self-assembly between active ingredients of TCM is summarized. Finally, the paper discusses the safety behind the application of nano-TCM and proposes potential research directions. Discussion: Despite some achievements, the safety of nano-TCM still need special attention. Furthermore, exploring the substance basis of TCM formulas from the perspective of nanotechnology may provide direction for elucidating the scientific intension of TCM formulas.

Therapeutic potentials of genistein: New insights and perspectives

Genistein, a polyphenolic isoflavone compound found abundantly in soy or soy-based products, is widely consumed in the Asian population. Genistein has poor bioavailability, to overcome this problem many advanced nano-drug delivery carrier systems are designed to enhance its water solubility and stability. However, further research is required to develop more efficient bioavailability improvement strategies. Genistein is a phytoestrogen which has been associated with reducing the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and diabetes mellitus. This plant-based bioactive compound possesses numerous biological activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-cancer, cardioprotective, and anti-diabetic activities to treat various disease states. Genistein has been used as an active therapeutic agent in many medications. Moreover, several clinical trials are in the ongoing stage to develop more efficient treatment therapies, especially for cancer treatment. This article highlights the protective and therapeutic benefits of genistein in the treatment of different ailments, and more specifically elaborates on the anti-cancer potential of genistein regarding various types of cancers. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Genistein possesses versatile biological activities, including anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-obesity, and anti-angiogenic. The most studied activity is anti-cancer. Currently, a number of pre-clinical and clinical trials are being carried out on anti-neoplastic and cytotoxic activities of genistein to develop novel therapeutic agents with excellent anti-cancer potential for the treatment of various kinds of cancer. Moreover, many bioavailability enhancement strategies have been developed to improve the bioavailability of genistein. Genistein shows significant hypoglycemic effects alone or in combination with other anti-diabetic agents. Genistein in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents is used for the treatment of prostate, bone, colorectal, glioma, breast, and bladder cancer.

Epigallocatechin gallate: Phytochemistry, bioavailability, utilization challenges, and strategies

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea catechin, has gained the attention of current study due to its excellent health-promoting effects. It possesses anti-obesity, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory activities, and is under extensive investigation in functional foods for improvement. It is susceptible to lower stability, lesser bioavailability, and lower absorption rate due to various environmental, processing, formulations, and gastrointestinal conditions of the human body. Therefore, it is the foremost concern for the researchers to enhance its bioactivity and make it the most suitable therapeutic compound for its clinical applications. In the current review, factors affecting the bioavailability of EGCG and the possible strategies to overcome these issues are reviewed and discussed. This review summarizes structural modifications and delivery through nanoparticle-based approaches including nano-emulsions, encapsulations, and silica-based nanoparticles for effective use of EGCG in functional foods. Moreover, recent advances to enhance EGCG therapeutic efficacy by specifically targeting its molecules to increase its bioavailability and stability are also described. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The main green tea constituent EGCG possesses several health-promoting effects making EGCG a potential therapeutic compound to cure ailments. However, its low stability and bioavailability render its uses in many disorders. Synthesizing EGCG prodrugs by structural modifications helps against its low bioavailability and stability by overcoming premature degradation and lower absorption rate. This review paper summarizes various strategies that benefit EGCG under different physiological conditions. The esterification, nanoparticle approaches, silica-based EGCG-NPs, and EGCG formulations serve as ideal EGCG modification strategies to deliver superior concentrations with lesser toxicity for its efficient penetration and absorption across cells both in vitro and in vivo. As a result of EGCG modifications, its bioactivities would be highly improved at lower doses. The protected or modified EGCG molecule would have enhanced potential effects and stability that would contribute to the clinical applications and expand its use in various food and cosmetic industries.

Natural Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment and Management of Endometrial/Uterine Cancer: Preclinical to Clinical Studies

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the sixth most prevalent type of cancer among women. Kinases, enzymes mediating the transfer of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in several signaling pathways, play a significant role in carcinogenesis and cancer cells’ survival and proliferation. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are involved in EC pathogenesis; therefore, CDK inhibitors (CDKin) have a noteworthy therapeutic potential in this type of cancer, particularly in EC type 1. Natural compounds have been used for decades in the treatment of cancer serving as a source of anticancer bioactive molecules. Many phenolic and non-phenolic natural compounds covering flavonoids, stilbenoids, coumarins, biphenyl compounds, alkaloids, glycosides, terpenes, and terpenoids have shown moderate to high effectiveness against CDKin-mediated carcinogenic signaling pathways (PI3K, ERK1/2, Akt, ATM, mTOR, TP53). Pharmaceutical regimens based on two natural compounds, trabectedin and ixabepilone, have been investigated in humans showing short and midterm efficacy as second-line treatments in phase II clinical trials. The purpose of this review is twofold: the authors first provide an overview of the involvement of kinases and kinase inhibitors in the pathogenesis and treatment of EC and then discuss the existing evidence about natural products’ derived kinase inhibitors in the management of the disease and outline relevant future research.

Exciting Potential of Nanoparticlized Lipidic System for Effective Treatment of Breast Cancer and Clinical Updates: A Translational Prospective

Breast cancer (BC) is a multifactorial disease and becoming a major health issue in women throughout the globe. BC is a malignant type of cancer which results from transcriptional changes in proteins and genes. Besides the availability of modern medicines and detection tools, BC has become a topmost deadly disease and its cure still remains challenging. Nanotechnology based approaches are being employed for the diagnosis and treatment of BC at clinical stages. Nanosystems have a significant role in the study of the interaction of malignant cells with their microenvironment through receptor-based targeted approach. Nowadays, lipid-based nanocarriers are being popularized in the domain of pharmaceutical and medical biology for cancer therapy. Lipidic nanoparticlized systems (LNPs) have proven to have high loading efficiency, less toxicity, improved therapeutic efficacy, enhanced bioavailability and stability of the bioactive compounds compared to traditional drug delivery systems. In the present context, several LNPs based formulations have been undertaken in various phases of clinical trials in different countries. This review highlights the importance of chemotherapeutics based lipidic nanocarriers and their anticipated use for the treatment of BC. Furthermore, the clinical trials and future prospective of LNPs have been widely elaborated.

Breast cancer: An insight into its inflammatory, molecular, pathological and targeted facets with update on investigational drugs

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease, occurs due to transcriptional changes in genetic and epigenetic including numerous genes and proteins. Worldwide, breast cancer (BC) is the life-threatening malignancies in women, is characterized by the occurrence of more than one molecular alteration. The incidence and mortality of BC are growing every day because of the adoption of western living standards, metropolitanization, and more life expectancy. Even though many modern approaches are available for the detection and treatment of BC, despite of these, it remains the topmost cause of death in women. This review highlights various approaches, including the importance of clinical, pathological, and molecular aspects of BC. Moreover, risk factors, biomarkers, immunotherapy, investigational drugs, and their role through tumor targets and immune systems have been discussed for management of BC. Furthermore, various targeting approaches for tumors through nanocarriers and their clinical trials have been elaborated in BC challenges and future perspectives.

Cancer Chemoprevention Using Nanotechnology-Based Approaches

Cancer research in pursuit of better diagnostic and treatment modalities has seen great advances in recent years. However, the incidence rate of cancer is still very high. Almost 40% of women and men are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. Such high incidence has not only resulted in high mortality but also severely compromised patient lifestyles, and added a great socioeconomic burden. In view of this, chemoprevention has gained wide attention as a method to reduce cancer incidence and its relapse after treatment. Among various stems of chemoprevention research, nanotechnology-based chemoprevention approaches have established their potential to offer better efficacy and safety. This review summarizes recent advances in nanotechnology-based chemoprevention strategies for various cancers with emphasis on lung and bronchial cancer, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer and highlights the unmet needs in this developing field towards successful clinical translation.

Natural product-based nanoformulations for cancer therapy: Opportunities and challenges

Application of natural product-based nanoformulations for the treatment of different human diseases, such as cancer, is an emerging field. The conventional cancer therapeutic modalities, including surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy has limited achievements. A larger number of drawbacks are associated with these therapies, including damage to proliferating healthy tissues, structural deformities, systemic toxicity, long-term side effects, resistance to the drug by tumor cells, and psychological problems. The advent of nanotechnology in cancer therapeutics is recent; however, it has progressed and transformed the field of cancer treatment at a rapid rate. Nanotherapeutics have promisingly overcome the limitations of conventional drug delivery system, i.e., low aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, multidrug resistance, and non-specificity. Specifically, natural product-based nanoformulations are being intentionally studied in different model systems. Where it is found that these nanoformulations has more proximity and reduced side effects. The nanoparticles can specifically target tumor cells, enhancing the specificity and efficacy of cancer therapeutic modalities which in turn improves patient response and survival. The integration of phytotherapy and nanotechnology in the clinical setting may improve pharmacological response and better clinical outcome of patients.

Effect of Geometrical Structure, Drying, and Synthetic Method on Aminated Chitosan-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles Utility for HSA Effective Immobilization

Human serum albumin (HSA) is one of the most frequently immobilized proteins on the surface of carriers, including magnetic nanoparticles. This is because the drug–HSA interaction study is one of the basic pharmacokinetic parameters determined for drugs. In spite of many works describing the immobilization of HSA and the binding of active substances, research describing the influence of the used support on the effectiveness of immobilization is missing. There are also no reports about the effect of the support drying method on the effectiveness of protein immobilization. This paper examines the effect of both the method of functionalizing the polymer coating covering magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), and the drying methods for the immobilization of HSA. Albumin was immobilized on three types of aminated chitosan-coated nanoparticles with a different content of amino groups long distanced from the surface Fe₃O₄-CS-Et(NH₂)_1–3. The obtained results showed that both the synthesis method and the method of drying nanoparticles have a large impact on the effectiveness of immobilization. Due to the fact that the results obtained for Fe₃O₄-CS-Et(NH₂)₂ significantly differ from those obtained for the others, the influence of the geometry of the shell structure on the ability to bind HSA was also explained by molecular dynamics.

Antioxidant activities of novel resveratrol analogs in breast cancer

The objective of the present study was to characterize the role of novel resveratrol (Res) analogs: 4-(E)-{(4-hydroxyphenylimino)-methylbenzene, 1, 2-diol} (HPIMBD) and 4-(E)-{(p-tolylimino)-methylbenzene-1,2-diol} (TIMBD) as potent antioxidants against breast cancer. Non-neoplastic breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A and MCF-10F were treated with 17β-estradiol (E2), Res, HPIMBD, and TIMBD for up to 72 h. mRNA and protein levels of antioxidant genes, superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD3) and N-quinoneoxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) and transcription factors, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf) 1, 2 and 3 were quantified after the above treatments. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by CM-H2-DCFDA and oxidative-DNA damage was determined by measuring 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). HPIMBD and TIMBD scavenged cellular ROS production, attenuated oxidative DNA damage, increased mRNA and protein expression levels of SOD3 and NQO1 and activated Nrf signaling pathway. Our studies demonstrate that HPIMBD and TIMBD have the potential as novel antioxidants to prevent development of breast cancer.

Natural product-based amyloid inhibitors

Many chronic human diseases, including multiple neurodegenerative diseases, are associated with deleterious protein aggregates, also called protein amyloids. One common therapeutic strategy is to develop protein aggregation inhibitors that can slow down, prevent, or remodel toxic amyloids. Natural products are a major class of amyloid inhibitors, and several dozens of natural product-based amyloid inhibitors have been identified and characterized in recent years. These plant- or microorganism-extracted compounds have shown significant therapeutic potential from in vitro studies as well as in vivo animal tests. Despite the technical challenges of intrinsic disordered or partially unfolded amyloid proteins that are less amenable to characterizations by structural biology, a significant amount of research has been performed, yielding biochemical and pharmacological insights into how inhibitors function. This review aims to summarize recent progress in natural product-based amyloid inhibitors and to analyze their mechanisms of inhibition in vitro. Major classes of natural product inhibitors and how they were identified are described. Our analyses comprehensively address the molecular interactions between the inhibitors and relevant amyloidogenic proteins. These interactions are delineated at molecular and atomic levels, which include covalent, non-covalent, and metal-mediated mechanisms. In vivo animal studies and clinical trials have been summarized as an extension. To enhance natural product bioavailability in vivo, emerging work using nanocarriers for delivery has also been described. Finally, issues and challenges as well as future development of such inhibitors are envisioned.

Preparation of curcumin-loaded PCL-PEG-PCL triblock copolymeric nanoparticles by a microchannel technology

Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have potential therapeutic applications; however, preparing NPs of a specific diameter and uniform size distribution is a challenge. In this work, we fabricated a microchannel system for the preparation of curcumin (Cur)-loaded NPs by the interfacial precipitation method, which rapidly and consistently generated stable NPs with a relatively smaller diameter, narrow size distribution, and higher drug-loading capacity and entrapment efficiency. Poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly (ε-caprolactone) triblock copolymers(PCEC) used as the carrier material was synthesized and characterized. Cur-loaded PCEC NPs had an average size of 167.2nm with a zeta potential of -29.23mV, and showed a loading capacity and drug entrapment efficiency of 15.28%±0.23% and 96.11%±0.13%, respectively. Meanwhile, the NPs demonstrated good biocompatibility and bioavailability, efficient cellular uptake, and long circulation time and a possible liver targeting effect in vivo. These results indicate that the Cur-loaded PCEC NPs can be used as drug carriers in controlled delivery systems and other biomedical applications.

Trends on polymer- and lipid-based nanostructures for parenteral drug delivery to tumors

PURPOSE

The dawn of the state-of-the-art methods of cancer treatments, nano-based delivery systems, has dispensed with the mainstream chemotherapy for being inadequate in yielding productive results and the numerous reported side effects. The popularity of this complementary approach in the course of the last two decades has been primarily attributed to its capacity to elevate the therapeutic index of anticancer drugs as well as removing the impassable delivery barriers in solid tumors with the minimal damage to the normal tissues.

METHODS

The PubMed database was consulted to compile this review.

RESULTS

A wide range of minuscule organic and inorganic nanomaterials, with dimensions not exceeding hundred nanometers, has led to hope for cancer therapy to flare-up once again due to possessing a number of exclusive traits for passive and active tumor targeting, some of which are EPR effect, high interstitial pressure of tumor, overexpressed receptors and angiogenesis. Although a limited number of liposomal and polymer-based therapeutic nanoparticles have gained applicability, a vast number of nanoparticles are still being trailed in order to be fully developed.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides an overview of the advantages/disadvantages of nanocarriers for cancer drug delivery.

Enhanced anti-cancer and antimicrobial activities of curcumin nanoparticles

Background Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a polyphenol derived from the plant Curcuma longa, commonly called turmeric. Extensive research over the last 50 years has demonstrated that these polyphenols play an important role in the maintenance of health and prevention of diseases, in addition to its therapeutic benefits such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant activities. Materials and methods This study is devoted to the enhancement of the solubility and bioavailability of curcumin nanoparticles prepared by a process based on a wet-milling technique and then examine in vitro against prostate cancer cell line 3 (PC3), human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK), human erythrocytes (red blood cells (RBCs)), and against fourth different bacterial strains two gram-positive (Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213), two gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853). Results The cell viability curve, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀), and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were evaluated. Nanocurcumin displayed significant activity against cancer cell line (PC3) and low toxicity against normal cells (HEK) compared with parent curcumin in favor of PC3 (P < 0.05). In addition, it was found that the efficiency of toxicity for nanocurcumin against PC3 (E% = 59.66%) was much better than HEK (E% = 36.07%) compared with parent curcumin. The results also demonstrate that, although nanocurcumin has a little more ability to lays RBCs than parent curcumin after incubated 60 min, but the hemolysis % remained very low and there was no significant difference between hemolysis % of nanocurcumin and parent curcumin (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the results demonstrate that, the MBCs of nanocurcumin were lower than curcumin for all different bacterial strains. Moreover, the selected gram-positive bacteria had higher sensitivity than the selected gram-negative bacteria for both curcumin and nanocurcumin. In conclusion, all these findings not only indicate that nanocurcumin safe compound has a potent ability as anti-cancer and antimicrobial activities, but also well justify the avail of using nanocurcumin as prostate cells PC3 anti-cancer, and antimicrobial agent for nanocurcumin are markedly improved by decreasing particle size to the nano-scale regime.

Novel delivery system for natural products: Nano-curcumin formulations

OBJECTIVE

Curcumin is extracted from Curcuma longa and regulates the intracellular signal pathways which control the growth of cancerous cell, inflammation, invasion and apoptosis. Curcumin molecules have special intrinsic features that can target the intracellular enzymes, genome (DNA) and messengers (RNA). A wide range of studies have been conducted on the physicochemical traits and pharmacological effects of curcumin on different diseases like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and even it has wound healing. Oral bioavailability of curcumin is rather poor, which would certainly put some boundaries in the employment of this drug.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Bibliographical searches were performed using MEDLINE/ScienceDirect/OVID up to February 2015 using the following keywords (all fields): ("Curcumin" OR "Curcuma longa") AND [(nanoparticles) OR (Nanomicelles) OR (micro emulsions) OR (liposome) OR (phospholipid).

RESULTS

Consequently, for any developments of curcumin in the future, analogues of curcumin that have better bioavailability or substitute formulations are needed crucially.

CONCLUSION

These studies indicated that nanotechnology can formulate curcumin effectively, and this nano-formulated curcumin with a potent ability against various cancer cells, were represented to have better efficacy and bioavailability under in vivo conditions.

Natural product-based nanomedicine: recent advances and issues

Natural products have been used in medicine for many years. Many top-selling pharmaceuticals are natural compounds or their derivatives. These plant- or microorganism-derived compounds have shown potential as therapeutic agents against cancer, microbial infection, inflammation, and other disease conditions. However, their success in clinical trials has been less impressive, partly due to the compounds’ low bioavailability. The incorporation of nanoparticles into a delivery system for natural products would be a major advance in the efforts to increase their therapeutic effects. Recently, advances have been made showing that nanoparticles can significantly increase the bioavailability of natural products both in vitro and in vivo. Nanotechnology has demonstrated its capability to manipulate particles in order to target specific areas of the body and control the release of drugs. Although there are many benefits to applying nanotechnology for better delivery of natural products, it is not without issues. Drug targeting remains a challenge and potential nanoparticle toxicity needs to be further investigated, especially if these systems are to be used to treat chronic human diseases. This review aims to summarize recent progress in several key areas relevant to natural products in nanoparticle delivery systems for biomedical applications.

In-vitro and In-vivo Evaluation of Silymarin Nanoliposomes against Isolated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen and remains a common cause of burn wound infections. Different studies have shown that entrapment of plant-derived compounds into liposomes could increase their anti-Staphylococcus aureus activity. Silymarin is the bioactive extract from the known plant Silybum marianum L. The objective of this study was to evaluate efficacy of silymarin in free and nanoliposomal forms against isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain. Silymarin-loaded nanoliposomes were prepared by extrusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of silymarin in free and nanoliposomal forms against MRSA were determined by broth dilution method. The killing rate of free and nanoliposomal forms of silymarin were analyzed. Ultimately, in-vivo therapeutic efficacy of nanoliposomes in burned mice infected by isolated MRSA was examined. The MICs of free and nanoliposomal forms of silymarin against isolated strain were 500 and 125 mg/L, respectively. The killing rate of silymarin-loaded nanoliposomes was higher than those of free silymarin. Topically treatment by silymarin in free and nanoliposomal forms resulted in almost 20 and 100% survival rates, respectively. The results suggest that silymarin-loaded nanoliposomes may provide a basis for future treatment of MRSA infections.

The therapeutic potential of medicinal foods

Pharmaceutical and nutritional sciences have recently witnessed a bloom in the scientific literature geared towards the use of food plants for their diversified health benefits and potential clinical applications. Health professionals now recognize that a synergism of drug therapy and nutrition might confer optimum outcomes in the fight against diseases. The prophylactic benefits of food plants are being investigated for potential use as novel medicinal remedies due to the presence of pharmacologically active compounds. Although the availability of scientific data is rapidly growing, there is still a paucity of updated compilation of data and concerns about the rationale of these health-foods still persist in the literature. This paper attempts to congregate the nutritional value, phytochemical composition, traditional uses, in vitro and in vivo studies of 10 common medicinal food plants used against chronic noncommunicable and infectious diseases. Food plants included were based on the criteria that they are consumed as a common food in a typical diet as either fruit or vegetable for their nutritive value but have also other parts which are in common use in folk medicine. The potential challenges of incorporating these medicinal foods in the diet which offers prospective opportunities for future drug development are also discussed.

The epigenome as a potential mediator of cancer and disease prevention in prenatal development

Epigenetic events establish a particular gene expression signature for each cell type during differentiation and fertilization. Disruption of these epigenetic programs in response to environmental stimuli during prenatal exposure dysregulates the fetal epigenome, potentially impacting susceptibility to disease later in life (the fetal basis of adult disease). Maternal dietary modifications during gestation and lactation play a pivotal role in the period of fetal (re)programming. Recently, many studies have demonstrated the impact of maternal nutrition on the fetal epigenome. This review discusses the complex interplay among various environmental factors and epigenetic mechanisms that have been found to affect offspring in human and animal models. Further, it summarizes the impact of various dietary phytochemicals capable of modulating the epigenome with regard to diverse human cancers and childhood cancer, specifically those with potential environmental etiology through maternal consumption during pregnancy and lactation. Other dietary agents that are still untested as to their effectiveness in transplacental studies are also discussed. The recent developments discussed herein enhance current understanding of how chemopreventive agents act and their potential to impact the prenatal epigenome; they may also aid efforts to identify dietary interventions that can be beneficial in treating and preventing disease.

Curcumin nanoformulations: a future nanomedicine for cancer

Curcumin, a natural diphenolic compound derived from turmeric Curcuma longa, has proven to be a modulator of intracellular signaling pathways that control cancer cell growth, inflammation, invasion and apoptosis, revealing its anticancer potential. In this review, we focus on the design and development of nanoparticles, self-assemblies, nanogels, liposomes and complex fabrication for sustained and efficient curcumin delivery. We also discuss the anticancer applications and clinical benefits of nanocurcumin formulations. Only a few novel multifunctional and composite nanosystem strategies offer simultaneous therapy as well as imaging characteristics. We also summarize the challenges to developing curcumin delivery platforms and up-to-date solutions for improving curcumin bioavailability and anticancer potential for therapy.

Magnetic fluid hyperthermia: focus on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

Due to their unique magnetic properties, excellent biocompatibility as well as multi-purpose biomedical potential (e.g., applications in cancer therapy and general drug delivery), superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are attracting increasing attention in both pharmaceutical and industrial communities. The precise control of the physiochemical properties of these magnetic systems is crucial for hyperthermia applications, as the induced heat is highly dependent on these properties. In this review, the limitations and recent advances in the development of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for hyperthermia are presented.