Folic Acid-Grafted Chitosan-Alginate Nanocapsules as Effective Targeted Nanocarriers for Delivery of Turmeric Oil for Breast Cancer Therapy

Alginate-Chitosan Biodegradable and Biocompatible Based Hydrogel for Breast Cancer Immunotherapy and Diagnosis: A Comprehensive Review

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in females. There are many side effects due to chemotherapy and traditional surgery, like fatigue, loss of appetite, skin irritation, and drug resistance to cancer cells. Immunotherapy has become a hopeful approach toward cancer treatment, generating long-lasting immune responses in malignant tumor patients. Recently, hydrogel has received more attention toward cancer therapy due to its specific characteristics, such as decreased toxicity, fewer side effects, and better biocompatibility drug delivery to the particular tumor location. Researchers globally reported various investigations on hydrogel research for tumor diagnosis. The hydrogel-based multilayer platform with controlled nanostructure has received more attention for its antitumor effect. Chitosan and alginate play a leading role in the formation of the cross-link in a hydrogel. Also, they help in the stability of the hydrogel. This review discusses the properties, preparation, biocompatibility, and bioavailability of various research and clinical approaches of the multipolymer hydrogel made of alginate and chitosan for breast cancer treatment. With a focus on cases of breast cancer and the recovery rate, there is a need to find out the role of hydrogel in drug delivery for breast cancer treatment.

Phytoconstituent analysis, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticancer effects of nano encapsulated Convolvulus arvensis L. extracts

BACKGROUND

The Convolvulus genus is distributed all over the world and has a long history in traditional medicine. As nanotechnology expands its reach into areas like drug delivery and biomedicine, this study intends to assess the potential of Convolvulus arvensis L. extracts as anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents, along with chemical profiling of the methanolic (MeOH) extract active ingredients.

METHODS

The chemical composition of an 85% MeOH extract was investigated by liquid chromatography with an electrospray source connected to mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS). Both the 85% MeOH extract and n-butanol fraction of C. arvensis were loaded for the first time on alginate/chitosan nanoparticles. The 85% MeOH extract, n-butanol fraction and their loaded nanoparticles were tested for their cytotoxicity, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity (against pathogenic bacteria, E. coli and S. aureus).

RESULTS

The chemical investigation of 85% MeOH extract of C. arvensis underwent LC-ESI-MS analysis, revealing twenty-six phenolic substances, of which 16 were phenolic acids, 6 were flavonoids, 1 glycolipid, 1 sesquiterpene and 2 unknown compounds. The FT-IR spectra confirmed the encapsulation of the 85% MeOH extract and n-butanol fraction onto alginate/chitosan nanoparticles and small size obtained by TEM maintained them nontoxic and enhanced their anti-inflammatory activity (the IC50 was decreased from 1050 to 175 µg/ml). The anti-cancer activity against HepG2 was increased and the cell viability was decreased from 28.59 ± 0.52 to 20.80 ± 0.27 at a maximum concentration of 1000 µg/ml. In addition, the MIC of encapsulated extracts was decreased from 31.25 to7.78 µg/ml in E. coli (Gm-ve) and from 15.56 to 7.78 µg/ml in S. aureus (Gm + ve) bacteria.

CONCLUSION

Both alginate and chitosan are excellent natural polymers for the encapsulation process, which affects positively on the bioactive constituents of C. arvensis extracts and improves their biological properties.

Targeted cancer treatment using folate-conjugated sponge-like ZIF-8 nanoparticles: a review

ZIF-8 (zeolitic imidazolate framework-8) is a potential drug delivery system because of its unique properties, which include a large surface area, a large pore capacity, a large loading capacity, and outstanding stability under physiological conditions. ZIF-8 nanoparticles may be readily functionalized with targeting ligands for the identification and absorption of particular cancer cells, enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapeutic medicines and reducing adverse effects. ZIF-8 is also pH-responsive, allowing medication release in the acidic milieu of cancer cells. Because of its tunable structure, it can be easily functionalized to design cancer-specific targeted medicines. The delivery of ZIF-8 to cancer cells can be facilitated by folic acid-conjugation. Hence, it can bind to overexpressed folate receptors on the surface of cancer cells, which holds the promise of reducing unwanted deliveries. As a result of its importance in cancer treatment, the folate-conjugated ZIF-8 was the major focus of this review.

Chitosan-functionalized bioplatforms and hydrogels in breast cancer: immunotherapy, phototherapy and clinical perspectives

Breast cancer is the most common and malignant tumor among women. Chitosan (CS)-based nanoparticles have been introduced into breast cancer therapy as a way to increase the targeted delivery of drugs and genes to the tumor site. CS nanostructures suppress tumorigenesis by enhancing both the targeted delivery of cargo (drug and gene) and its accumulation in tumor cells. The tumor cells internalize CS-based nanoparticles through endocytosis. Moreover, chitosan nanocarriers can also induce phototherapy-mediated tumor ablation. Smart and multifunctional types of CS nanoparticles, including pH-, light- and redox-responsive nanoparticles, can be used to improve the potential for breast cancer removal. In addition, the acceleration of immunotherapy by CS nanoparticles has also been achieved, and there is potential to develop CS-nanoparticle hydrogels that can be used to suppress tumorigenesis.

Doxorubicin-loaded Niosomes functionalized with gelatine and alginate as pH-responsive drug delivery system: A 3D printing approach

Despite many efforts, breast cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers and its treatment faces challenges related to cancer drug side effects and metastasis. Combining 3D printing and nanocarriers has created new opportunities in cancer treatment. In this work, 3D-printed gelatin-alginate nanocomposites containing doxorubicin-loaded niosomes (Nio-DOX@GT-AL) were recruited as an advanced potential pH-sensitive drug delivery system. Morphology, degradation, drug release, flow cytometry, cell cytotoxicity, cell migration, caspase activity, and gene expression of nanocomposites and controls (Nio-DOX and Free-DOX) were evaluated. Results show that the obtained niosome has a spherical shape and size of 60-80 nm. Sustained drug release and biodegradability were presented by Nio-DOX@GT-AL and Nio-DOX. Cytotoxicity analysis revealed that the engineered Nio-DOX@GT-AL scaffold had 90 % cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells (MCF-7), whereas exhibited <5 % cytotoxicity against the non-tumor breast cell line (MCF-10A), which was significantly more than the antitumor effect of the control samples. Scratch-assay as an indicator cell migration demonstrated a reduction of almost 60 % of the covered surface. Gene expression could provide an explanation for the antitumor effect of engineered nanocarriers, which significantly reduced metastasis-promoting genes (Bcl2, MMP-2, and MMP-9), and significantly enhanced the expression and activity of genes that promote apoptosis (CASP-3, CASP-8, and CASP-9). Also, considerable inhibition of metastasis-associated genes (Bax and p53) was observed. Moreover, flow-cytometry data demonstrated that Nio-DOX@GT-AL decreased necrosis and enhanced apoptosis drastically. The findings of this research can confirm that employing 3D-printing and niosomal formulation can be an effective strategy in designing novel nanocarriers for efficient drug delivery applications.

Cytotoxicity Enhancement of α-Mangostin with Folate-Conjugated Chitosan Nanoparticles in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

α-mangostin (AM) is a promising natural anticancer agent that can be used in cancer research. However, its effectiveness can be limited by poor solubility and bioavailability. To address this issue, chitosan-based nanoparticles (CSNPs) have been investigated as a potential delivery system to enhance the cytotoxicity to cancer cells and improve selectivity against normal cells. In this study, we developed folate-conjugated chitosan nanoparticles (F-CS-NPs) using a carbodiimide-based conjugation method to attach folate to chitosan (CS), which have different molecular weights. The NPs were crosslinked using tripolyphosphate (TPP) via ionic gelation. To characterize the F-CS-NPs, we utilized various analytical techniques, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to evaluate the particle size and morphology, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to confirm the presence of functional groups, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) to measure the absorption spectrum and confirm the presence of folate. The particle size of AM-F-CS-NPs ranged from 180 nm to 250 nm, with many having favorable charges ranging from +40.33 ± 3.4 to 10.69 ± 1.3 mV. All NPs exhibited the same spherical morphology. The use of F-CS-NPs increased drug release, followed by a sustained release pattern. We evaluated the cytotoxicity of AM, AM-F-CS-HMW, and AM-F-CS-LMW NPs against MCF-7 cells and found IC50 values of 8.47 ± 0.49, 5.3 ± 0.01, and 4.70 ± 0.11 µg/mL, respectively. These results confirm the improved cytotoxicity of AM in MCF-7 cells when delivered via F-CS-NPs. Overall, our in vitro study demonstrated that the properties of F-CS-NPs greatly influence the cytotoxicity of AM in MCF-7 breast cancer cells (significantly different (p < 0.05)). The use of F-CS-NPs as a drug-delivery system for AM may have the potential to develop novel therapies for breast cancer.

Lutein-loaded chitosan/alginate-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles as effective targeted carriers for breast cancer treatment

Magnetic drug targeting can be a strategy for effectively delivering phytochemicals in cancer treatment. Here, we demonstrate the benefit of magnetic targeting with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for cytotoxicity enhancement of lutein (LUT) against breast cancer cells. Fabrication of LUT-loaded chitosan/alginate iron oxide nanoparticles (LUT-CS/Alg-Fe₃O₄-NPs) was optimized by a statistical approach using response surface methodology based on the Box-Behnken design. The optimized LUT-CS/Alg-Fe₃O₄-NPs with a balance among LUT concentration, copolymer coating, and iron ion concentration exhibited controlled size, narrow size distribution, better crystallinity, excellent saturation magnetization, and sustained-release profile. The negligible magnetic coercivity and remanent magnetization confirmed the superparamagnetism of the prepared NPs. The optimized LUT-CS/Alg-Fe₃O₄-NPs were biocompatible while exhibiting a significantly enhanced cytotoxicity towards breast cancer MCF-7 cells upon exposure to a permanent magnet compared to free LUT with a 4-fold increase, suggesting the potential of LUT-CS/Alg-Fe₃O₄-NPs as magnetically targeted delivery for breast cancer.

Folic Acid Ionic-Liquids-Based Separation: Extraction and Modelling

Folic acid (vitamin B9) is an essential micronutrient for human health. It can be obtained using different biological pathways as a competitive option for chemical synthesis, but the price of its separation is the key obstacle preventing the implementation of biological methods on a broad scale. Published studies have confirmed that ionic liquids can be used to separate organic compounds. In this article, we investigated folic acid separation by analyzing 5 ionic liquids (CYPHOS IL103, CYPHOS IL104, [HMIM][PF₆], [BMIM][PF₆], [OMIM][PF₆]) and 3 organic solvents (heptane, chloroform, and octanol) as the extraction medium. The best obtained results indicated that ionic liquids are potentially valuable for the recovery of vitamin B9 from diluted aqueous solutions as fermentation broths; the efficiency of the process reached 99.56% for 120 g/L CYPHOS IL103 dissolved in heptane and pH 4 of the aqueous folic acid solution. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were combined with Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) for modelling the process, considering its characteristics.