Oncological Ligand-Target Binding Systems and Developmental Approaches for Cancer Theranostics

Neuroblastoma GD2 Expression and Computational Analysis of Aptamer-Based Bioaffinity Targeting

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a neuroectodermal embryonic cancer that originates from primordial neural crest cells, and amongst pediatric cancers with high mortality rates. NB is categorized into high-, intermediate-, and low-risk cases. A significant proportion of high-risk patients who achieve remission have a minimal residual disease (MRD) that causes relapse. Whilst there exists a myriad of advanced treatment options for NB, it is still characterized by a high relapse rate, resulting in a reduced chance of survival. Disialoganglioside (GD2) is a lipo-ganglioside containing a fatty acid derivative of sphingosine that is coupled to a monosaccharide and a sialic acid. Amongst pediatric solid tumors, NB tumor cells are known to express GD2; hence, it represents a unique antigen for subclinical NB MRD detection and analysis with implications in determining a response for treatment. This article discusses NB MRD expression and analytical assays for GD2 detection and quantification as well as computational approaches for GD2 characterization based on high-throughput image processing and genomic data analysis.

N-acetylgalactosamine-decorated nanoliposomes for targeted delivery of paclitaxel to hepatocellular carcinoma

In this study, we designed and developed a novel asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR)-targeted PEGylated paclitaxel (PTX) nanoliposome for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). N-acetylgalactosamine with α configuration (Tn) was synthesized and used as the active targeting ligand. Notably, Tn modified nanoliposomes loaded with PTX (Tn-Lipo-PTX) showed a narrow distribution (PDI = 0.18-0.20) with 74 ± 0.36 nm of average sizes. Tn-Lipo-PTX has a high encapsulation efficiency of more than 93.0% and 13% of drug loading (DL). Compared with no targeted Con-Lipo-PTX, Tn-Lipo-PTX showed lower and sustained release characteristic in PBS in vitro. Tn targeting ASGPR was confirmed by HepG-2 cells uptake experiment by fluorescence microscopy analysis. Tn-Lipo-PTX accumulated in HepG-2 cells and this process was inhibited by adding Tn ligand, supporting receptor-mediated endocytosis mechanism. MTT assays was implemented in four cell lines. Tn-Lipo-PTX exhibited superior inhibition against ASGPR on over-expressing HepG-2 (IC₅₀ = 1.93 nM). The cell cycle experiments showed that Tn-Lipo-PTX could efficiently increase the percentage of cells arrest in the G2/M phase. Through western blotting analysis, the β-tubulin and cyclin B1 expression in the Tn-Lipo-PTX group were significantly higher compared with other groups and the CDK1 was down-regulated compared with PTX group, which indicated that targeting liposome delivery system could not only change periodic proteins expression, but also improve the killing effect of PTX on hepatocarcinoma cell. Tn-installed PEGylated nanoliposomes have a great potential for targeted cancer chemotherapy.