Ultrasound Triggering of Liposomal Nanodrugs for Cancer Therapy: A Review

Targeted Cancer Therapy-on-A-Chip

Targeted cancer therapy (TCT) is gaining increased interest because it reduces the risks of adverse side effects by specifically treating tumor cells. TCT testing has traditionally been performed using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture and animal studies. Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) platforms have been developed to recapitulate cancer in vitro, as cancer-on-a-chip (CoC), and used for chemotherapeutics development and testing. This review explores the use of CoCs to both develop and test TCTs, with a focus on three main aspects, the use of CoCs to identify target biomarkers for TCT development, the use of CoCs to test free, un-encapsulated TCTs, and the use of CoCs to test encapsulated TCTs. Despite current challenges such as system scaling, and testing externally triggered TCTs, TCToC shows a promising future to serve as a supportive, pre-clinical platform to expedite TCT development and bench-to-bedside translation.

Construction Strategy of Functionalized Liposomes and Multidimensional Application

Liposomes are widely used in the biological field due to their good biocompatibility and surface modification properties. With the development of biochemistry and material science, many liposome structures and their surface functional components have been modified and optimized one by one, pushing the liposome platform from traditional to functionalized and intelligent, which will better satisfy and expand the needs of scientific research. However, a main limiting factor effecting the efficiency of liposomes is the complicated environmental conditions in the living body. Currently, in order to overcome the above problem, functionalized liposomes have become a very promising strategy. In this paper, binding strategies of liposomes with four main functional elements, namely nucleic acids, antibodies, peptides, and stimuli-responsive motif have been summarized for the first time. In addition, based on the construction characteristics of functionalized liposomes, such as drug-carrying, targeting, long-circulating, and stimulus-responsive properties, a comprehensive overview of their features and respective research progress are presented. Finally, the paper critically presents the limitations of these functionalized liposomes in the current applications and also prospectively suggests the future development directions, aiming to accelerate realization of their industrialization.

Enhancing Curcumin's therapeutic potential in cancer treatment through ultrasound mediated liposomal delivery

Improving the efficacy of chemotherapy remains a key challenge in cancer treatment, considering the low bioavailability, high cytotoxicity, and undesirable side effects of some clinical drugs. Targeted delivery and sustained release of therapeutic drugs to cancer cells can reduce the whole-body cytotoxicity of the agent and deliver a safe localized treatment to the patient. There is growing interest in herbal drugs, such as curcumin, which is highly noted as a promising anti-tumor drug, considering its wide range of bioactivities and therapeutic properties against various tumors. Conversely, the clinical efficacy of curcumin is limited because of poor oral bioavailability, low water solubility, instability in gastrointestinal fluids, and unsuitable pH stability. Drug-delivery colloid vehicles like liposomes and nanoparticles combined with microbubbles and ultrasound-mediated sustained release are currently being explored as effective delivery modes in such cases. This study aimed to synthesize and study the properties of curcumin liposomes (CLs) and optimize the high-frequency ultrasound release and uptake by a human breast cancer cell line (HCC 1954) through in vitro studies of culture viability and cytotoxicity. CLs were effectively prepared with particles sized at 81 ± 2 nm, demonstrating stability and controlled release of curcumin under ultrasound exposure. In vitro studies using HCC1954 cells, the combination of CLs, ultrasound, and Definity microbubbles significantly improved curcumin's anti-tumor effects, particularly under specific conditions: 15 s of continuous ultrasound at 0.12 W/cm2 power density with 0.6 × 107 microbubbles/mL. Furthermore, the study delved into curcumin liposomes' cytotoxic effects using an Annexin V/PI-based apoptosis assay. The treatment with CLs, particularly in conjunction with ultrasound and microbubbles, amplified cell apoptosis, mainly in the late apoptosis stage, which was attributed to heightened cellular uptake within cancer cells.

Liposomes in the cosmetics: present and outlook

Liposomes are small spherical vesicles composed of phospholipid bilayers capable of encapsulating a variety of ingredients, including water- and oil-soluble compound, which are one of the most commonly used piggybacking and delivery techniques for many active ingredients and different compounds in biology, medicine and cosmetics. With the increasing number of active cosmetic ingredients, the concomitant challenge is to effectively protect, transport, and utilize these substances in a judicious manner. Many cosmetic ingredients are ineffective both topically and systemically when applied to the skin, thus changing the method of delivery and interaction with the skin of the active ingredients is a crucial step toward improving their effectiveness. Liposomes can improve the delivery of active ingredients to the skin, enhance their stability, and ultimately, improve the efficacy of cosmetics and and pharmaceuticals. In this review, we summarized the basic properties of liposomes and their recent advances of functionalities in cosmetics and and pharmaceuticals. Also, the current state of the art in the field is discussed and the prospects for future research areas are highlighted. We hope that this review will provide ideas and inspiration on the application and development of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Advancements and prospects of lipid-based nanoparticles: dual frontiers in cancer treatment and vaccine development

Cancer is a complex heterogeneous disease that poses a significant public health challenge. In recent years, lipid-based nanoparticles (LBNPs) have expanded drug delivery and vaccine development options owing to their adaptable, non-toxic, tuneable physicochemical properties, versatile surface functionalisation, and biocompatibility. LBNPs are tiny artificial structures composed of lipid-like materials that can be engineered to encapsulate and deliver therapeutic agents with pinpoint accuracy. They have been widely explored in oncology; however, our understanding of their pharmacological mechanisms, effects of their composition, charge, and size on cellular uptake, tumour penetration, and how they can be utilised to develop cancer vaccines is still limited. Hence, we reviewed LBNPs' unique characteristics, biochemical features, and tumour-targeting mechanisms. Furthermore, we examined their ability to enhance cancer therapies and their potential contribution in developing anticancer vaccines. We critically analysed their advantages and challenges impeding swift advancements in oncology and highlighted promising avenues for future research.

Physicochemical Properties of Nanoliposomes Encapsulating Grape Seed Tannins Formed with Ultrasound Cycles

Grape seeds are an excellent source of flavonoids and tannins with powerful antioxidant properties. However, the astringency of tannins limits their direct incorporation into food. To overcome this challenge, we investigated the encapsulation of grape seed tannins within nanoliposomes formed by ultrasound cycling. We characterized the nanoliposomes' physicochemical properties, including encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant activity, stability, microstructure, and rheological properties. Our findings reveal that the nanoliposomes exhibited excellent stability under refrigerated conditions for up to 90 days with a mean particle size of 228 ± 26 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.598 ± 0.087, and a zeta potential of -41.6 ± 1.30 mV, maintaining a spherical multilamellar microstructure. Moreover, they displayed high antioxidant activity, with encapsulation efficiencies of 79% for epicatechin and 90% for catechin. This innovative approach demonstrates the potential of using ultrasound-assisted nanoliposome encapsulation to directly incorporate grape seed tannins into food matrices, providing a sustainable and efficient method for enhancing their bioavailability and functionality.

An updated landscape on nanotechnology-based drug delivery, immunotherapy, vaccinations, imaging, and biomarker detections for cancers: recent trends and future directions with clinical success

The recent development of nanotechnology-based formulations improved the diagnostics and therapies for various diseases including cancer where lack of specificity, high cytotoxicity with various side effects, poor biocompatibility, and increasing cases of multi-drug resistance are the major limitations of existing chemotherapy. Nanoparticle-based drug delivery enhances the stability and bioavailability of many drugs, thereby increasing tissue penetration and targeted delivery with improved efficacy against the tumour cells. Easy surface functionalization and encapsulation properties allow various antigens and tumour cell lysates to be delivered in the form of nanovaccines with improved immune response. The nanoparticles (NPs) due to their smaller size and associated optical, physical, and mechanical properties have evolved as biosensors with high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of various markers including nucleic acids, protein/antigens, small metabolites, etc. This review gives, initially, a concise update on drug delivery using different nanoscale platforms like liposomes, dendrimers, polymeric & various metallic NPs, hydrogels, microneedles, nanofibres, nanoemulsions, etc. Drug delivery with recent technologies like quantum dots (QDs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), protein, and upconverting NPs was updated, thereafter. We also summarized the recent progress in vaccination strategy, immunotherapy involving immune checkpoint inhibitors, and biomarker detection for various cancers based on nanoplatforms. At last, we gave a detailed picture of the current nanomedicines in clinical trials and their possible success along with the existing approved ones. In short, this review provides an updated complete landscape of applications of wide NP-based drug delivery, vaccinations, immunotherapy, biomarker detection & imaging for various cancers with a predicted future of nanomedicines that are in clinical trials.

Development of a Microfluidic Formatted Ultrasound-Controlled Monodisperse Lipid Vesicles' Hydrogel Dressing Combined with Ultrasound for Transdermal Drug Delivery System

Transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) has attracted much attention in the pharmaceutical technology area. However, the current methods are difficult to ensure penetration efficiency, controllability, and safety in the dermis, so its widespread clinical use has been limited. This work proposes an ultrasound-controlled monodisperse lipid vesicles (U-CMLVs) hydrogel dressing, which combines with ultrasound to form TDDS. Using microfluidic technology, prepare size controllable U-CMLVs with high drug encapsulation efficiency and quantitative encapsulation of ultrasonic response materials, and even uniform mix them with hydrogel to prepare the required thickness of dressings. The high encapsulation efficiency can ensure sufficient dosage of the drugs and further realize the control of ultrasonic response through quantitative encapsulation of ultrasound-responsive materials. Using high frequency (5 MHz, 0.4 W cm-2 ) and low frequency (60 kHz, 1 W cm-2 ) ultrasound to control the movement and rupture of U-CMLVs, the contents not only penetrate the stratum corneum into the epidermis but also break through the bottleneck of penetration efficiency, and deep into the dermis. These findings provide the groundwork for deep, controllable, efficient, and safe drug delivery through TDDS and lay a foundation for further expanding its application.

Transferrin-Targeted Liposomes in Glioblastoma Therapy: A Review

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain tumor, and its treatment is further complicated by the high selectivity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The scientific community is urgently seeking innovative and effective therapeutic solutions. Liposomes are a promising new tool that has shown potential in addressing the limitations of chemotherapy, such as poor bioavailability and toxicity to healthy cells. However, passive targeting strategies based solely on the physicochemical properties of liposomes have proven ineffective due to a lack of tissue specificity. Accordingly, the upregulation of transferrin receptors (TfRs) in brain tissue has led to the development of TfR-targeted anticancer therapeutics. Currently, one of the most widely adopted methods for improving drug delivery in the treatment of GBM and other neurological disorders is the utilization of active targeting strategies that specifically target this receptor. In this review, we discuss the role of Tf-conjugated liposomes in GBM therapy and present some recent studies investigating the drug delivery efficiency of Tf-liposomes; in addition, we address some challenges currently facing this approach to treatment and present some potential improvement possibilities.

Editorial for Special Issue: "Supramolecular Nanomaterials for Biomedical Application"

Since the discovery of supramolecular chemistry in 1987.

Gold-Nanoparticle Hybrid Nanostructures for Multimodal Cancer Therapy

With the urgent need for bio-nanomaterials to improve the currently available cancer treatments, gold nanoparticle (GNP) hybrid nanostructures are rapidly rising as promising multimodal candidates for cancer therapy. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been hybridized with several nanocarriers, including liposomes and polymers, to achieve chemotherapy, photothermal therapy, radiotherapy, and imaging using a single composite. The GNP nanohybrids used for targeted chemotherapy can be designed to respond to external stimuli such as heat or internal stimuli such as intratumoral pH. Despite their promise for multimodal cancer therapy, there are currently no reviews summarizing the current status of GNP nanohybrid use for cancer theragnostics. Therefore, this review fulfills this gap in the literature by providing a critical analysis of the data available on the use of GNP nanohybrids for cancer treatment with a specific focus on synergistic approaches (i.e., triggered drug release, photothermal therapy, and radiotherapy). It also highlights some of the challenges that hinder the clinical translation of GNP hybrid nanostructures from bench to bedside. Future studies that could expedite the clinical progress of GNPs, as well as the future possibility of improving GNP nanohybrids for cancer theragnostics, are also summarized.