1
|
Sarkar S, Kiren S, Gmeiner WH. Review of Prodrug and Nanodelivery Strategies to Improve the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer with Fluoropyrimidine Drugs. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:734. [PMID: 38931855 PMCID: PMC11206923 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16060734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Fluoropyrimidine (FP) drugs are central components of combination chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). FP-based chemotherapy has improved survival outcomes over the last several decades with much of the therapeutic benefit derived from the optimization of dose and delivery. To provide further advances in therapeutic efficacy, next-generation prodrugs and nanodelivery systems for FPs are being developed. This review focuses on recent innovative nanodelivery approaches for FP drugs that display therapeutic promise. We summarize established, clinically useful FP prodrug strategies, including capecitabine, which exploit tumor-specific enzyme expression for optimal anticancer activity. We then describe the use of FP DNA-based polymers (e.g., CF10) for the delivery of activated FP nucleotides as a nanodelivery approach with proven activity in pre-clinical models and with clinical potential. Multiple nanodelivery systems for FP delivery show promise in CRC pre-clinical models and we review advances in albumin-mediated FP delivery, the development of mesoporous silica nanoparticles, emulsion-based nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, hydrogel-based delivery, and liposomes and lipid nanoparticles that display particular promise for therapeutic development. Nanodelivery of FPs is anticipated to impact CRC treatment in the coming years and to improve survival for cancer patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Santu Sarkar
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA;
| | - Sezgin Kiren
- Department of Chemistry, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC 27110, USA;
| | - William H. Gmeiner
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Yu S, Du Y, Niu X, Li G, Zhu D, Yu Q, Zou G, Ju H. Arginine-modified black phosphorus quantum dots with dual excited states for enhanced electrochemiluminescence in bioanalysis. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7302. [PMID: 36435863 PMCID: PMC9701201 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35015-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is generally emitted via radiative transition of singlet or triplet excited state (S1 or T1). Herein, an ECL mechanism with the transitions of both S1 and T1 of black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) is found, and an arginine (Arg) modification strategy is proposed to passivate the surface oxidation defects of BPQDs, which could modulate the excited states for enhancing the ECL efficiency of BPQDs. The Arg modification leads to greater spatial overlap of highest and lowest occupied molecular orbitals, and spectral shift of radiative transitions, and improves the stability of anion radical of BPQDs. To verify the application of the proposed mechanism, it is used to construct a sensitive method for conveniently evaluating the inhibiting efficiency of cyclo-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-d-tyrosine-lysine to cell surface integrin by using Arg containing peptide modified BPQDs as signal tag. The dual excited states mediated ECL emitters provide a paradigm for adjustable ECL generation and extend the application of ECL analysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Yu
- grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XState Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| | - Yu Du
- grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XState Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| | - Xianghong Niu
- grid.453246.20000 0004 0369 3615School of Science, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| | - Guangming Li
- grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XState Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| | - Da Zhu
- grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XState Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| | - Qian Yu
- grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XState Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| | - Guizheng Zou
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100 P. R. China
| | - Huangxian Ju
- grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XState Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Chatzisideri T, Leonidis G, Karampelas T, Skavatsou E, Velentza-Almpani A, Bianchini F, Tamvakopoulos C, Sarli V. Integrin-Mediated Targeted Cancer Therapy Using c(RGDyK)-Based Conjugates of Gemcitabine. J Med Chem 2021; 65:271-284. [PMID: 34967607 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
c(RGDyK)-based conjugates of gemcitabine (GEM) with the carbonate and carbamate linkages in the 6-OH group of GEM were synthesized for the targeted delivery of GEM to integrin αvβ3, overexpressing cancer cells to increase the stability as well as the tumor delivery of GEM and minimize common side effects associated with GEM treatment. Competitive cell uptake experiments demonstrated that conjugate TC113 could be internalized by A549 cells through integrin αvβ3. Among the synthesized conjugates, TC113 bearing the carbamate linker was stable in human plasma and was further assessed in an in vivo pharmacokinetic study. TC113 appeared to be relatively stable, releasing GEM slowly into blood, while it showed potent antiproliferative properties against WM266.4 and A549 cells. The encouraging data presented in this study with respect to TC113 provide a promising keystone for further investigation of this GEM conjugate with potential future clinical applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Theodora Chatzisideri
- Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - George Leonidis
- Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Theodoros Karampelas
- Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Division of Pharmacology-Pharmacotechnology, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Soranou Ephessiou Street 4, Athens GR-11527, Greece
| | - Eleni Skavatsou
- Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Division of Pharmacology-Pharmacotechnology, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Soranou Ephessiou Street 4, Athens GR-11527, Greece
| | - Angeliki Velentza-Almpani
- Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Division of Pharmacology-Pharmacotechnology, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Soranou Ephessiou Street 4, Athens GR-11527, Greece
| | - Francesca Bianchini
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, V.le GB Morgagni 50, 50134 Firenze, Italy
| | - Constantin Tamvakopoulos
- Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Division of Pharmacology-Pharmacotechnology, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Soranou Ephessiou Street 4, Athens GR-11527, Greece
| | - Vasiliki Sarli
- Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Baiula M, Cirillo M, Martelli G, Giraldi V, Gasparini E, Anelli AC, Spampinato SM, Giacomini D. Selective Integrin Ligands Promote Cell Internalization of the Antineoplastic Agent Fluorouracil. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2021; 4:1528-1542. [PMID: 34661072 PMCID: PMC8506610 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.1c00094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Drug conjugates consisting of an antineoplastic drug and a targeting receptor ligand could be effective to overcome the heavy side effects of unselective anticancer agents. To address this need, we report here the results of a project aimed to study agonist and antagonist integrin ligands as targeting head of molecular cargoes for the selective delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) to cancer or noncancer cells. Initially, two fluorescent β-lactam-based integrin ligands were synthesized and tested for an effective and selective internalization mediated by α4β1 or α5β1 integrins in Jurkat and K562 cells, respectively. No cellular uptake was observed for both fluorescent compounds in HEK293 noncancerous control cells. Afterward, three conjugates composed of the β-lactam-based integrin ligand, suitable linkers, and 5-FU were realized. The best compound E, acting as α5β1 integrin agonist, is able to selectively deliver 5-FU into tumor cells, successfully leading to cancer cell death.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Monica Baiula
- Department
of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University
of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Martina Cirillo
- Department
of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Giulia Martelli
- Department
of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Elisa Gasparini
- Department
of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Santi Mario Spampinato
- Department
of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University
of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Daria Giacomini
- Department
of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ciaffaglione V, Modica MN, Pittalà V, Romeo G, Salerno L, Intagliata S. Mutual Prodrugs of 5-Fluorouracil: From a Classic Chemotherapeutic Agent to Novel Potential Anticancer Drugs. ChemMedChem 2021; 16:3496-3512. [PMID: 34415107 PMCID: PMC9290623 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The development of potent antitumor agents with a low toxicological profile against healthy cells is still one of the greatest challenges facing medicinal chemistry. In this context, the “mutual prodrug” approach has emerged as a potential tool to overcome undesirable physicochemical features and mitigate the side effects of approved drugs. Among broad‐spectrum chemotherapeutics available for clinical use today, 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) is one of the most representative, also included in the World Health Organization model list of essential medicines. Unfortunately, severe side effects and drug resistance phenomena are still the primary limits and drawbacks in its clinical use. This review describes the progress made over the last ten years in developing 5‐FU‐based mutual prodrugs to improve the therapeutic profile and achieve targeted delivery to cancer tissues.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Ciaffaglione
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy
| | - Maria N Modica
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy
| | - Valeria Pittalà
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Romeo
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy
| | - Loredana Salerno
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy
| | - Sebastiano Intagliata
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Abstract
Cucurbitacins (CUCUs) are triterpenoids known to display potent cytotoxic effects; however, their clinical application is limited due to poor pharmacokinetics and systemic toxicity. This work focuses on the development of c(RGDyK)-CUCU conjugates for the selective delivery of CUCUs to integrin-overexpressing cancer cells. The activity of the conjugates against various cancer cells was studied. They exhibited a mild cytostatic effect to six cancer cell lines and a cytotoxic effect against integrin-overexpressing MCF-7 and A549 cells. Their chemical and metabolic stability was extensively studied using LC-MS analysis. The conjugates maintained high affinity for αvβ3 integrin receptors. c(RGDyK) conjugation via a PEG linker was beneficial for CUCU-D and the resulting conjugate was approximately three-times more active than the free CUCU-D in MCF7 cells.
Collapse
|
7
|
Cirillo M, Giacomini D. Molecular Delivery of Cytotoxic Agents via Integrin Activation. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:299. [PMID: 33467465 PMCID: PMC7830197 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13020299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Integrins are cell adhesion receptors overexpressed in tumor cells. A direct inhibition of integrins was investigated, but the best inhibitors performed poorly in clinical trials. A gained attention towards these receptors arouse because they could be target for a selective transport of cytotoxic agents. Several active-targeting systems have been developed to use integrins as a selective cell entrance for some antitumor agents. The aim of this review paper is to report on the most recent results on covalent conjugates between integrin ligands and antitumor drugs. Cytotoxic drugs thus conjugated through specific linker to integrin ligands, mainly RGD peptides, demonstrated that the covalent conjugates were more selective against tumor cells and hopefully with fewer side effects than the free drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Daria Giacomini
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Liu CM, Huang JY, Sheng LX, Wen XA, Cheng KG. Synthesis and antitumor activity of fluorouracil - oleanolic acid/ursolic acid/glycyrrhetinic acid conjugates. MEDCHEMCOMM 2019; 10:1370-1378. [PMID: 31673307 PMCID: PMC6786008 DOI: 10.1039/c9md00246d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Due to the obvious adverse effects of 5-fluorouracil that limit its clinical usefulness and considering the diverse biological activities of pentacyclic triterpenes, twelve pentacyclic triterpene-5-fluorouracil conjugates were synthesized and their antitumor activities were evaluated. The results indicated that all the single substitution targeted hybrids (7a-12a) possessed much better antiproliferative activities than the double substitution targeted hybrids (7b-12b). Hybrid 12a exhibited good antiproliferative activities against all the tested MDR cell lines. Furthermore, it was revealed that 12a could induce intracellular calcium influx, the generation of ROS, arrest the cell proliferation at the G1 phase, and activate the apoptotic signaling caspase-8, which eventually activates the apoptotic effector caspase-3 and causes the later nuclear apoptosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Mei Liu
- State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources , School of Chemistry and Pharmacy of Guangxi Normal University , Guilin 541004 , PR China . ; ; Tel: +86 0773 2120958
| | - Jia-Yan Huang
- State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources , School of Chemistry and Pharmacy of Guangxi Normal University , Guilin 541004 , PR China . ; ; Tel: +86 0773 2120958
| | - Li-Xin Sheng
- State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources , School of Chemistry and Pharmacy of Guangxi Normal University , Guilin 541004 , PR China . ; ; Tel: +86 0773 2120958
| | - Xiao-An Wen
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery for Metabolic Diseases and , State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines , Center of Drug Discovery , China Pharmaceutical University , 24 Tongjia Xiang , Nanjing 210009 , China
| | - Ke-Guang Cheng
- State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources , School of Chemistry and Pharmacy of Guangxi Normal University , Guilin 541004 , PR China . ; ; Tel: +86 0773 2120958
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Mendes M, Sousa JJ, Pais A, Vitorino C. Targeted Theranostic Nanoparticles for Brain Tumor Treatment. Pharmaceutics 2018; 10:E181. [PMID: 30304861 PMCID: PMC6321593 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics10040181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 09/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The poor prognosis and rapid recurrence of glioblastoma (GB) are associated to its fast-growing process and invasive nature, which make difficult the complete removal of the cancer infiltrated tissues. Additionally, GB heterogeneity within and between patients demands a patient-focused method of treatment. Thus, the implementation of nanotechnology is an attractive approach considering all anatomic issues of GB, since it will potentially improve brain drug distribution, due to the interaction between the blood⁻brain barrier and nanoparticles (NPs). In recent years, theranostic techniques have also been proposed and regarded as promising. NPs are advantageous for this application, due to their respective size, easy surface modification and versatility to integrate multiple functional components in one system. The design of nanoparticles focused on therapeutic and diagnostic applications has increased exponentially for the treatment of cancer. This dual approach helps to understand the location of the tumor tissue, the biodistribution of nanoparticles, the progress and efficacy of the treatment, and is highly useful for personalized medicine-based therapeutic interventions. To improve theranostic approaches, different active strategies can be used to modulate the surface of the nanotheranostic particle, including surface markers, proteins, drugs or genes, and take advantage of the characteristics of the microenvironment using stimuli responsive triggers. This review focuses on the different strategies to improve the GB treatment, describing some cell surface markers and their ligands, and reports some strategies, and their efficacy, used in the current research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Mendes
- Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
- Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC), University of Coimbra, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - João José Sousa
- Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
- LAQV, REQUIMTE, Group of Pharmaceutical Technology, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - Alberto Pais
- Coimbra Chemistry Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - Carla Vitorino
- Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
- Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC), University of Coimbra, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal.
- LAQV, REQUIMTE, Group of Pharmaceutical Technology, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Abstract
There is a growing interest for the discovery of new cancer-targeted delivery systems for drug delivery and diagnosis. A synopsis of the bibliographic data will be presented on bombesin, neurotensin, octreotide, Arg-Gly-Asp, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and other peptides. Many of them have reached the clinics for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes, and have been utilized as carriers of known cytotoxic agents such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel, cisplatin, methotrexate or dyes and radioisotopes. In our article, recent advances in the development of peptides as carriers of cytotoxic drugs or radiometals will be analyzed.
Collapse
|