Nanoparticle‐biomolecular corona: A new approach for the early detection of non‐small‐cell lung cancer

Macromolecules Absorbed from Influenza Infection-Based Sera Modulate the Cellular Uptake of Polymeric Nanoparticles

Optimizing the biological identity of nanoparticles (NPs) for efficient tumor uptake remains challenging. The controlled formation of a protein corona on NPs through protein absorption from biofluids could favor a biological identity that enables tumor accumulation. To increase the diversity of proteins absorbed by NPs, sera derived from Influenza A virus (IAV)-infected mice were used to pre-coat NPs formed using a hyperbranched polyester polymer (HBPE-NPs). HBPE-NPs, encapsulating a tracking dye or cancer drug, were treated with sera from days 3-6 of IAV infection (VS3-6), and uptake of HBPE-NPs by breast cancer cells was examined. Cancer cells demonstrated better uptake of HBPE-NPs pre-treated with VS3-6 over polyethylene glycol (PEG)-HBPE-NPs, a standard NP surface modification. The uptake of VS5 pre-treated HBPE-NPs by monocytic cells (THP-1) was decreased over PEG-HBPE-NPs. VS5-treated HBPE-NPs delivered a cancer drug more efficiently and displayed better in vivo distribution over controls, remaining stable even after interacting with endothelial cells. Using a proteomics approach, proteins absorbed from sera-treated HBPE-NPs were identified, such as thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), that could bind multiple cancer cell receptors. Our findings indicate that serum collected during an immune response to infection is a rich source of macromolecules that are absorbed by NPs and modulate their biological identity, achieving rationally designed uptake by targeted cell types.

Nanotechnology Meets Oncology: A Perspective on the Role of the Personalized Nanoparticle-Protein Corona in the Development of Technologies for Pancreatic Cancer Detection

In recent years nanotechnology has opened exciting opportunities in the struggle against cancer. In 2007 Dawson and coworkers demonstrated that nanomaterials exposed to biological fluids are coated with plasma proteins that form the so-called “protein corona”. A few years later our joint research team made of physicists, chemists, biotechnologists, surgeons, oncologists, and bioinformaticians introduced the concept of “personalized protein corona” and demonstrated that it is unique for each human condition. This concept paved the way for the development of nano-enabled blood (NEB) tests for the diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). These studies gave an impetus to serious work in the field that came to maturity in the late 2010s. In this special issue, we provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the most significant discoveries of our research team in the field of PDAC detection. We focus on the main achievements with an emphasis on the fundamental aspects of this arena and how they shaped the integration of different scientific backgrounds towards the development of advanced diagnostic technologies. We conclude the review by outlining future perspectives and opportunities to transform the NEB tests into a reliable clinical diagnostic technology for early diagnosis, follow-up, and management of PDAC patients.

Nano-omics: nanotechnology-based multidimensional harvesting of the blood-circulating cancerome

Over the past decade, the development of 'simple' blood tests that enable cancer screening, diagnosis or monitoring and facilitate the design of personalized therapies without the need for invasive tumour biopsy sampling has been a core ambition in cancer research. Data emerging from ongoing biomarker development efforts indicate that multiple markers, used individually or as part of a multimodal panel, are required to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of assays for early stage cancer detection. The discovery of cancer-associated molecular alterations that are reflected in blood at multiple dimensions (genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome) and integration of the resultant multi-omics data have the potential to uncover novel biomarkers as well as to further elucidate the underlying molecular pathways. Herein, we review key advances in multi-omics liquid biopsy approaches and introduce the 'nano-omics' paradigm: the development and utilization of nanotechnology tools for the enrichment and subsequent omics analysis of the blood-circulating cancerome.

Magnetic Levitation Patterns of Microfluidic-Generated Nanoparticle–Protein Complexes

Magnetic levitation (MagLev) has recently emerged as a powerful method to develop diagnostic technologies based on the exploitation of the nanoparticle (NP)–protein corona. However, experimental procedures improving the robustness, reproducibility, and accuracy of this technology are largely unexplored. To contribute to filling this gap, here, we investigated the effect of total flow rate (TFR) and flow rate ratio (FRR) on the MagLev patterns of microfluidic-generated graphene oxide (GO)–protein complexes using bulk mixing of GO and human plasma (HP) as a reference. Levitating and precipitating fractions of GO-HP samples were characterized in terms of atomic force microscopy (AFM), bicinchoninic acid assay (BCA), and one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (1D SDS-PAGE), and nanoliquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS). We identified combinations of TFR and FRR (e.g., TFR = 35 μL/min and FRR (GO:HP) = 9:1 or TFR = 3.5 μL/min and FRR (GO:HP) = 19:1), leading to MagLev patterns dominated by levitating and precipitating fractions with bulk-like features. Since a typical MagLev experiment for disease detection is based on a sequence of optimization, exploration, and validation steps, this implies that the optimization (e.g., searching for optimal NP:HP ratios) and exploration (e.g., searching for MagLev signatures) steps can be performed using samples generated by bulk mixing. When these steps are completed, the validation step, which involves using human specimens that are often available in limited amounts, can be made by highly reproducible microfluidic mixing without any ex novo optimization process. The relevance of developing diagnostic technologies based on MagLev of coronated nanomaterials is also discussed.

The Role of Curcumin in Prostate Cancer Cells and Derived Spheroids

A major challenge in the clinical management of prostate cancer (PC) is to inhibit tumor growth and prevent metastatic spreading. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to discover new compounds useful for PC therapy, and promising advances in this field were reached. Drugs currently used in PC therapy frequently induce resistance and PC progresses toward metastatic castration-resistant forms (mCRPC), making it virtually incurable. Curcumin, a commercially available nutritional supplement, represents an attractive therapeutic agent for mCRPC patients. In the present study, we compared the effects of chemotherapeutic drugs such as docetaxel, paclitaxel, and cisplatin, to curcumin, on two PC cell lines displaying a different metastatic potential: DU145 (moderate metastatic potential) and PC-3 (high metastatic potential). Our results revealed a dose-dependent reduction of DU145 and PC-3 cell viability upon treatment with curcumin similar to chemotherapeutic agents (paclitaxel, cisplatin, and docetaxel). Furthermore, we explored the EGFR-mediated signaling effects on ERK activation in DU145 and PC-3 cells. Our results showed that DU145 and PC-3 cells overexpress EGFR, and the treatment with chemotherapeutic agents or curcumin reduced EGFR expression levels and ERK activation. Finally, chemotherapeutic agents and curcumin reduced the size of DU145 and PC-3 spheroids and have the potential to induce apoptosis and also in Matrigel. In conclusion, despite different studies being carried out to identify the potential synergistic curcumin combinations with chemopreventive/therapeutic efficacy for inhibiting PC growth, the results show the ability of curcumin used alone, or in combinatorial approaches, to impair the size and the viability of PC-derived spheroids.

Changes in target ability of nanoparticles due to protein corona composition and disease state

Many studies have shown the influence of protein corona (PC) on the active targeting capability of ligand-modified nanoparticles; however, the influence of clinical status on PC composition and targeting capacity is rarely discussed. In this study, when transferrin-modified PEGylated polystyrene nanoparticles (Tf-PNs) is intravenously injected into mice with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comorbid with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), more Tf-PNs accumulated in the tumor tissue than in those of NSCLC model mice. This indicated that PC derived from different states of disease changed the active targeting ability of Tf-PNs. To explain the occurrence of this phenomenon, our analysis of PC from different disease states revealed that Tf (transferrin) modification had no significant effect on the formation of PC, and that the PC from the NSCLC comorbid with T2DM model contained more proteins like fibrin and clusterin. This work demonstrates the impacts of comorbidity, such as with T2DM, on the active targeting capability of ligand-modified nanoparticles, and the results promote the application of nanoparticles for precision medicine.

Influence of surface chemistry and morphology of nanoparticles on protein corona formation

Nanomaterials offer promising solutions as drug delivery systems and imaging agents in response to the demand for better therapeutics and diagnostics. However, the limited understanding of the interaction between nanoparticles and biological entities is currently hampering the development of new systems and their applications in clinical settings. Proteins and lipids in biological fluids are known to complex with nanoparticles to form a "biomolecular corona". This has been shown to affect particles' morphology and behavior in biological systems and their interactions with cells. Hence, understanding how nanomaterials' physicochemical properties affect the formation and composition of this biocorona is a crucial step. This work evaluates existing literature on how morphology (size and shape), and surface chemistry (charge and hydrophobicity) of nanoparticles influence the formation of protein corona. The latest evidence suggest that although surface charge promotes the interaction with proteins and lipids, surface chemistry plays a leading role in determining the affinity of the nanoparticle for biomolecules and, ultimately, the composition of the corona. More recently the study of additional nanoparticles' properties like shape and surface chirality have demonstrated a significant effect on protein corona architecture, providing new tools to tailor biomolecular corona formation. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Toxicology of Nanomaterials.

New Trends in Precision Medicine: A Pilot Study of Pure Light Scattering Analysis as a Useful Tool for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Diagnosis

Simple Summary

A reliable method for a fast diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) would greatly help in improving therapeutic success in personalized medicine approaches. Thus, in the present study, a new idea was proposed: a morphological single-cell analysis approach combined with a microfluidic device for liquid biopsy. The investigation of the NSCLC sample at different culturing times created the possibility of understanding the evolution of different cell types and their morphological changes, making the Circulating Tumour Cells (CTC) predominance against all other cell classes visible.

Abstract

Background: To date, in personalized medicine approaches, single-cell analyses such as circulating tumour cells (CTC) are able to reveal small structural cell modifications, and therefore can retrieve several biophysical cell properties, such as the cell dimension, the dimensional relationship between the nucleus and the cytoplasm and the optical density of cellular sub-compartments. On this basis, we present in this study a new morphological measurement approach for the detection of vital CTC from pleural washing in individual non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Materials and methods: After a diagnosis of pulmonary malignancy, pleural washing was collected from nine NSCLC patients. The collected samples were processed with a density gradient separation process. Light scattering analysis was performed on a single cell. The results of this analysis were used to obtain the cell’s biophysical pattern and, later on, as basis for Machine Learning (ML) on unknown samples. Results: Morphological single-cell analysis followed by ML show a predictive picture for an NSCLC patient, screening that it is possible to distinguish CTC from other cells. Moreover, we find that the proposed measurement approach was fast, reliable, label-free, identifying and count CTC in a biological fluid. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that CTC Biophysical Profile by Pure Light Scattering in NSCLC could be used as a promising diagnostic candidate in NSCLC patients.

Nanoencapsulation of Hirudo medicinalis proteins in liposomes as a nanocarrier for inhibiting angiogenesis through targeting VEGFA in the Breast cancer cell line (MCF-7)

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most serious cause of women’s death throughout the world. Using nanocarrier vehicles to the exact site of cancer upgrades the therapeutic efficiency of the drugs. Capsulation of active proteins in the vesicular liposomes’ hydrophilic core is essential to develop a therapeutic protein carrier system. We aimed to encapsulate the medicinal leech saliva extract (LSE) and assess the inhibition of angiogenesis of breast cancer cells by targeting vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA). Methods: In this research, enhanced formulation of liposomal protein was determined by zeta potential analysis, droplet size, drug release assay, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, a cytotoxicity assay of liposomal LSE was performed to determine the cytotoxic activity of components. For assessing the expression of VEGFA, P53, and hypoxia-inducible factor subunit alpha (HIF1a) genes, Real-Time PCR was applied. Results: Nano liposome was chosen as an enhanced formulation due to its much smaller size (46.23 nm). Liposomal LSE had more practical actions on the MCF-7 cells. As noticed by DAPI staining, apoptosis was extensively greater in treated MCF-7 cells. Wound healing assay demonstrated that MCF-7 cells could not sustain growth at the presence of liposomal LSE and expression of the VEGFA gene was declined in treated cells. Downregulation of VEGFA was evaluated with western blotting technique. Conclusion: It can be concluded that our investigation of the tests confirmed the fact that nano liposomal LSE is a novel promising formulation for anticancer drugs and can significantly improve the penetration of protein drugs to cancer cells.

Interplay between nanomedicine and protein corona

Nanomedicine is recognized as a promising agent for diverse biomedical applications; however, its safety and efficiency in clinical practice remains to be enhanced. A priority issue is the protein corona (PC), which imparts unique biological identities to prototype and determines the actual biological functions in biological fluids. Decades of work has already illuminated abundant considerations that influence the composition of the protein corona. Thereinto, the physical assets of nanomedicines (e.g., size and shape, surface properties, nanomaterials) and the biological environment collectively play fundamental roles in shaping the PC, including the types and quantities of plasma proteins. The properties of nanomedicines are dependent on certain factors. This review aims to explore the applications of nanomedicines by regulating their interplay with PC.

Recent Progress of Lung Cancer Diagnosis Using Nanomaterials

Lung cancer is one of the serious malignant tumors with high morbidity and mortality due to the poor diagnosis and early metastasis. The developing nanotechnology provides novel concepts and research strategies for the lung cancer diagnosis by employing nanomaterials as diagnostic reagents to enhance diagnostic efficiency. This commentary introduces recent progress using nanoparticles for lung cancer diagnosis from two aspects of in vivo and in vitro detection. The challenges and future research perspectives are proposed at the end of the paper.

The Crosstalk between Prostate Cancer and Microbiota Inflammation: Nutraceutical Products Are Useful to Balance This Interplay?

The human microbiota shows pivotal roles in urologic health and disease. Emerging studies indicate that gut and urinary microbiomes can impact several urological diseases, both benignant and malignant, acting particularly on prostate inflammation and prostate cancer. Indeed, the microbiota exerts its influence on prostate cancer initiation and/or progression mechanisms through the regulation of chronic inflammation, apoptotic processes, cytokines, and hormonal production in response to different pathogenic noxae. Additionally, therapies' and drugs' responses are influenced in their efficacy and tolerability by microbiota composition. Due to this complex potential interconnection between prostate cancer and microbiota, exploration and understanding of the involved relationships is pivotal to evaluate a potential therapeutic application in clinical practice. Several natural compounds, moreover, seem to have relevant effects, directly or mediated by microbiota, on urologic health, posing the human microbiota at the crossroad between prostatic inflammation and prostate cancer development. Here, we aim to analyze the most recent evidence regarding the possible crosstalk between prostate, microbiome, and inflammation.

Extracellular vesicles from human plasma and serum are carriers of extravesicular cargo-Implications for biomarker discovery

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in human blood are a potential source of biomarkers. To which extent anticoagulation affects their concentration, cellular origin and protein composition is largely unexplored. To study this, blood from 23 healthy subjects was collected in acid citrate dextrose (ACD), citrate or EDTA, or without anticoagulation to obtain serum. EVs were isolated by ultracentrifugation or by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) for fluorescence-SEC. EVs were analyzed by micro flow cytometry, NTA, TEM, Western blot, and protein mass spectrometry. The plasma EV concentration was unaffected by anticoagulants, but serum contained more platelet EVs. The protein composition of plasma EVs differed between anticoagulants, and between plasma and serum. Comparison to other studies further revealed that the shared EV protein composition resembles the “protein corona” of synthetic nanoparticles incubated in plasma or serum. In conclusion, we have validated a higher concentration of platelet EVs in serum than plasma by contemporary EV methods. Anticoagulation should be carefully described (i) to enable study comparison, (ii) to utilize available sample cohorts, and (iii) when preparing/selecting biobank samples. Further, the similarity of the EV protein corona and that of nanoparticles implicates that EVs carry both intravesicular and extravesicular cargo, which will expand their applicability for biomarker discovery.

The interaction between nanoparticles-protein corona complex and cells and its toxic effect on cells

Once nanoparticles (NPs) contact with the biological fluids, the proteins immediately adsorb onto their surface, forming a layer called protein corona (PC), which bestows the biological identity on NPs. Importantly, the NPs-PC complex is the true identity of NPs in physiological environment. Based on the affinity and the binding and dissociation rate, PC is classified into soft protein corona, hard protein corona, and interfacial protein corona. Especially, the hard PC, a protein layer relatively stable and closer to their surface, plays particularly important role in the biological effects of the complex. However, the abundant corona proteins rarely correspond to the most abundant proteins found in biological fluids. The composition profile, formation and conformational change of PC can be affected by many factors. Here, the influence factors, not only the nature of NPs, but also surface chemistry and biological medium, are discussed. Likewise, the formed PC influences the interaction between NPs and cells, and the associated subsequent cellular uptake and cytotoxicity. The uncontrolled PC formation may induce undesirable and sometimes opposite results: increasing or inhibiting cellular uptake, hindering active targeting or contributing to passive targeting, mitigating or aggravating cytotoxicity, and stimulating or mitigating the immune response. In the present review, we discuss these aspects and hope to provide a valuable reference for controlling protein adsorption, predicting their behavior in vivo experiments and designing lower toxicity and enhanced targeting nanomedical materials for nanomedicine.

Nanoparticle-enabled blood tests for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is often detected too late to allow adequate treatments with the result that patients are condemned to sufferings and early death. Most efforts have been therefore aimed at identifying sensitive PDAC biomarkers. Although biomarkers have numerous advantages, sample size, intra-individual variability, existence of several biases and confounding variables and cost of investigation make their clinical application challenging. In recent years, nanotechnology is providing new options for early cancer detection. Among recent discoveries, the concept is emerging that the protein corona, i.e. the layer of plasma proteins that surrounds nanomaterials in bodily fluids, is personalized. In particular, the protein corona of cancer patients is significantly different from that of healthy individuals. Herein, we review this concept with a particular focus on clinical relevance. We also discuss the recently developed nanoparticle-enabled blood (NEB) tests that demonstrated to be promising in discriminating PDAC patients from healthy volunteers by global change of the nanoparticle-protein corona. We conclude with a critical discussion of research perspectives aimed at further improving the prediction ability of the test.

Biohybrid Nanoparticles to Negotiate with Biological Barriers

Incapability of effective cross-talk with biological environments has partly impaired the in vivo functionality of nanoparticles (NPs). Homing, biodistribution, and function of NPs could be engineered through regulating their interactions with in vivo niches. Inspired by communications in biological systems, endowing a "biological identity" to synthetic NPs is one approach to control their biodistribution, and immunonegotiation profiles. This synthetic-biological combination is referred to as biohybrid NPs, which comprise both i) engineerable, readily producible, and trackable synthetic NPs as well as ii) biological moieties with the capability to cross-talk with immunological barriers. Here, the latest understanding on the in vivo interactions of NPs, biological barriers they face, and emerging methods for quantitative measurements of NPs' biodistribution are reviewed. Some key biomolecules that have emerged as negotiators with the immune system in the context of cancer and autoimmunity, and their inspirations on biohybrid NPs are introduced. Critical design considerations for efficient cross-talk between NPs and innate and adaptive immunity followed by hybridization methods are also discussed. Finally, clinical translation challenges and future perspectives regarding biohybrid NPs are discussed.

Proteomics analysis of human serum of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer reveals proteins as diagnostic biomarker candidates

Non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and it has a poor prognosis, because overall survival after 5 years is 20-25% for all stages. Thus, it is extremely important to increase the survival rate in the early stages NSCLC by focusing on novel screening tests of cancer identifying specific biomarkers expression associated with a more accurate tumor staging and patient prognosis. In this study, we focused our attention on quantitative proteomics of three heavily glycosylated serum proteins: AMBP, α2 macroglobulin, and SERPINA1. In particular, we analyzed serum samples from 20 NSCLC lung adenocarcinoma cancer patients in early and advanced stages, and 10 healthy donors to obtain a relative quantification through the MRM analysis of these proteins that have shown to be markers of cancer development and progression. AMBP, α2 macroglobulin, and SERPINA1 were chosen because all of them possess endopeptidase inhibitor activity and play key roles in cancer. We observe a variation in the expression of these proteins linked to the stage of the disease. Therefore, we believe that proteins like α2 macroglobulin, αmicroglobulin/bikunin, and SERPINA1 could be useful biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer and in monitoring its evolution.

The Role of Oxidative Stress and Hormones in Controlling Obesity

The accumulation of adipose tissue in the body occurs because the energy introduced with food and drink exceeds that expense, but to understand why this imbalance is established and why it is maintained over time, it is important to consider the main causes and risk factors of excess weight. In this review, we will refer to the main factors linked to obesity, starting from oxidative stress to hormonal factors including the role of obesity in breast cancer. Among the many hypotheses formulated on the etiopathology of obesity, a key role can be attributed to the relationship between stress oxidative and intestinal microbiota. Multiple evidences tend to show that genetic, epigenetic, and lifestyle factors contribute to determine in the obese an imbalance of the redox balance correlated with the alteration of the intestinal microbial flora. Obesity acts negatively on the wound healing, in fact several studies indicate morbid obesity significantly increased the risk of a post-operative wound complication and infection. Currently, in the treatment of obesity, medical interventions are aimed not only at modifying caloric intake, but also to modulate and improve the composition of diet with the aim of rebalancing the microbiota-redox state axis.