Cationic versus anionic core-shell nanogels for transport of cisplatin to lung cancer cells

Recent advances in stimuli-responsive tailored nanogels for cancer therapy; from bench to personalized treatment

To improve the quality of health in a personalized manner, better control over pharmacologically relevant cargo formulation, organ-specific targeted delivery, and on-demand release of therapeutic agents is crucial. Significant work has been put into designing and developing revolutionary nanotherapeutics approaches for the effective monitoring and personalized treatment of disease. Nanogel (NG) has attracted significant interest because of its tremendous potential in cancer therapy and its environmental stimuli responsiveness. NG is considered a next-generation delivery technology due to its benefits like as size tunability, high loading, stimuli responsiveness, prolonged drug release via in situ gelling mechanisms, stability, and its potential to provide personalized therapy from the investigation of human genes and the genes in various types of cancers and its association with a selective anticancer drug. Stimuli-responsive NGs can be used as smart nanomedicines to detect and treat cancer and can be tuned as personalized medicine as well. This comprehensive review article's major objectives include the challenges of NGs' clinical translation for cancer treatment as well as its early preclinical successes and prospects.

Polysaccharide-Based Nanogels to Overcome Mucus, Skin, Cornea, and Blood-Brain Barriers: A Review

Nanocarriers have been extensively developed in the biomedical field to enhance the treatment of various diseases. However, to effectively deliver therapeutic agents to desired target tissues and enhance their pharmacological activity, these nanocarriers must overcome biological barriers, such as mucus gel, skin, cornea, and blood-brain barriers. Polysaccharides possess qualities such as excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, unique biological properties, and good accessibility, making them ideal materials for constructing drug delivery carriers. Nanogels, as a novel drug delivery platform, consist of three-dimensional polymer networks at the nanoscale, offering a promising strategy for encapsulating different pharmaceutical agents, prolonging retention time, and enhancing penetration. These attractive properties offer great potential for the utilization of polysaccharide-based nanogels as drug delivery systems to overcome biological barriers. Hence, this review discusses the properties of various barriers and the associated constraints, followed by summarizing the most recent development of polysaccharide-based nanogels in drug delivery to overcome biological barriers. It is expected to provide inspiration and motivation for better design and development of polysaccharide-based drug delivery systems to enhance bioavailability and efficacy while minimizing side effects.

Development and In Vitro Evaluation of Crizotinib-Loaded Lipid-Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles Using Box-Behnken Design in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

The goal of the study was to produce, optimize, characterize, and compare crizotinib-loaded lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (CL-LPHNPs), representing a novel contribution to the existing literature, and to determine their anticancer activity in non-small cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC). Box-Behnken design was used to investigate the effect of three independent variables: polymer amount (X1), soy phosphatidylcholine (X2), and DSPE-PEG (X3), on three responses: particle size (Y1), polydispersity index (Y2), and zeta potential (Y3). Different parameters were evaluated on the optimized LPHNP formulations such as encapsulation efficiency, drug release study, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image analysis, and in vitro cell evaluations. The mean particle size of the optimized formulation is between 120 and 220 nm with a PDI< 0.2 and a zeta potential of -10 to -15 mV. The encapsulation efficiency values of crizotinib-loaded PLGA-LPHNPs (CL-PLGA-LPHNPs) and crizotinib-loaded PCL-LPHNPs (CL-PCL-LPHNPs) were 79.25±0.07% and 70.93±1.81%, respectively. Drug release study of CL-PLGA-LPHNPs and CL-PCL-LPHNPs showed a controlled and sustained release pattern as a result of core-shell type. Additionally, after 48 h, CL-PLGA-LPHNPs and CL-PCL-LPHNPs significantly reduced the viability of NCI-H2228 cells compared to free crizotinib. Moreover, CL-PLGA-LPHNPs and CL-PCL-LPHNPs exhibited a significant decrease in RAS, RAF, MEK, and ERK gene/protein expression levels after 48-h incubation. In conclusion, this pioneering study introduces lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles containing crizotinib as a novel treatment approach, uniting the advantages of a polymeric core and a lipid shell. The successful formulation optimization using Box-Behnken design yielded nanoparticles with adjustable size, remarkable stability, high drug loading, and a customizable drug release profile. Extensive investigations of key parameters, including particle size, PDI, ZP, TEM analysis, drug release, EE%, and in vitro evaluations, validate the potential of these nanoparticles. Moreover, the examination of two different polymers, PLGA and PCL, highlights their distinct impacts on nanoparticle performance. This research opens up new prospects for advanced therapeutic interventions with lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles.

Platinum-Coordinated Dual-Responsive Nanogels for Universal Drug Delivery and Combination Cancer Therapy

Developing a universal nanoplatform for efficient delivery of various drugs to target sites is urgent for overcoming various biological barriers and realizing combinational cancer treatment. Nanogels, with the advantages of both hydrogels and nanoparticles, may hold potential for addressing the above issue. Here, a dual-responsive nanogel platform (HPC nanogel) is constructed using β-cyclodextrin-conjugated hyaluronic acid (HA-βCD), polyethyleneimine (PEI), and cisplatin. HA-βCD and PEI compose the skeleton of the nanogel, and cisplatin molecules provide the junctions inside the skeleton, thus affording a multiple interactions-based nanogel. Besides, HA endows the nanogel with hyaluronidase (HAase)-responsiveness, and cisplatin guarantees the glutathione (GSH)-responsive ability, which make the nanogel a dual-responsive platform that can degrade and release the loaded drugs when encountering HAase or GSH. Additionally, the HPC nanogel possesses excellent small-molecule drug and protein loading and intracellular delivery capabilities. Especially, for proteins, their intracellular delivery via nanogels is not hindered by serum proteins, and the enzymes delivered into cells still maintain their catalytic activities. Furthermore, the nanogel can codeliver different cargoes to achieve "cocktail" chemotherapeutic efficacy and realize combination cancer therapy. Overall, the HPC nanogel can serve as a multifunctional platform capable of delivering desired drugs to treat cancer or other diseases.

Rational Mitomycin Nanocarriers Based on Hydrophobically Functionalized Polyelectrolytes and Poly(lactide-co-glycolide)

Encapsulation of hydrophilic and amphiphilic drugs in appropriate colloidal carrier systems for sustained release is an emerging problem. In general, hydrophobic bioactive substances tend to accumulate in water-immiscible polymeric domains, and the release process is controlled by their low aqueous solubility and limited diffusion from the nanocarrier matrix. Conversely, hydrophilic/amphiphilic drugs are typically water-soluble and insoluble in numerous polymers. Therefore, a core-shell approach─nanocarriers comprising an internal core and external shell microenvironments of different properties─can be exploited for hydrophilic/amphiphilic drugs. To produce colloidally stable poly(lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA) nanoparticles for mitomycin C (MMC) delivery and controlled release, a unique class of amphiphilic polymers─hydrophobically functionalized polyelectrolytes─were utilized as shell-forming materials, comprising both stabilization via electrostatic repulsive forces and anchoring to the core via hydrophobic interactions. Undoubtedly, the use of these polymeric building blocks for the core-shell approach contributes to the enhancement of the payload chemical stability and sustained release profiles. The studied nanoparticles were prepared via nanoprecipitation of the PLGA polymer and were dissolved in acetone as a good solvent and in an aqueous solution containing hydrophobically functionalized poly(4-styrenesulfonic-co-maleic acid) and poly(acrylic acid) of differing hydrophilic-lipophilic balance values. The type of the hydrophobically functionalized polyelectrolyte (HF-PE) was crucial for the chemical stability of the payload─derivatives of poly(acrylic acid) were found to cause very rapid degradation (hydrolysis) of MMC, in contrast to poly(4-styrenesulfonic-co-maleic acid). The present contribution allowed us to gain crucial information about novel colloidal nanocarrier systems for MMC delivery, especially in the fields of optimal HF-PE concentrations, appropriate core and shell building materials, and the colloidal and chemical stability of the system.

NVCL-Based Galacto-Functionalized and Thermosensitive Nanogels with GNRDs for Chemo/Photothermal-Therapy

Dual-function nanogels (particle size from 98 to 224 nm) synthesized via surfactant-free emulsion polymerization (SFEP) were tested as smart carriers toward synergistic chemo- and photothermal therapy. Cisplatin (CDDP) or doxorubicin (DOX) and gold nanorods (GNRDs) were loaded into galacto-functionalized PNVCL-based nanogels, where the encapsulation efficiency for CDDP and DOX was around 64 and 52%, respectively. PNVCL-based nanogels were proven to be an efficient delivery vehicle under conditions that mimic the tumor site in vitro. The release of CDDP or DOX was slower at pH 7.4 and 37 °C than at tumor conditions of pH 6 and 40 °C. On the other hand, in the systems with GNRDs at pH 7.4 and 37 °C, the sample was irradiated with a 785 nm laser for 10 min every hour, obtaining that the release profiles were even higher than in the conditions that simulated a cancer tissue (without irradiation). Thus, the present study demonstrates the synergistic effect of chemo- and photothermal therapy as a promising dual function in the potential future use of PNVCL nanogels loaded with GNRDs and CDDP/DOX to achieve an enhanced chemo/phototherapy in vivo.

Co-delivery of gemcitabine and cisplatin via Poly (L-glutamic acid)-g-methoxy poly (ethylene glycol) micelle to improve the in vivo stability and antitumor effect

PURPOSE

The intention of the study was to co-delivery gemcitabine and cisplatin with totally different nature by prodrug and micelle strategy to improve its in vivo stability and antitumor effect.

METHODS

A prodrug of gemcitabine (mPEG-PLG-GEM) was synthesized through the covalent conjugation between the primary amino group of gemcitabine and the carboxylic group of poly (L-glutamic acid)-g-methoxy poly (ethylene glycol) (mPEG-PLG). It was prepared into micelles by a solvent diffusion method, and then combined with cisplatin through chelation to prepare gemcitabine and cisplatin co-loaded mPEG-PLG micelles (mPEG-PLG-GEM@CDDP micelles).

RESULTS

Gemcitabine and cisplatin in each micelle group were released more slowly than in solutions. In addition, pharmacokinetics behaviors of them were improved after encapsulated in prodrug micelles. T_1/2z of gemcitabine and cisplatin encapsulated in micelles were prolonged to 6.357 h (mPEG-PLG-GEM), 10.490 h (mPEG-PLG@CDDP), 5.463 h and 12.540 h (mPEG-PLG-GEM@CDDP) compared with GEM@CDDP solutions (T_1/2z = 1.445 h and 7.740 h). The ratio of synergy between gemcitabine and cisplatin (3:1 ~ 1:1(n/n)) was guaranteed in the systemic circulation, thus improving its antitumor effect. The results of biochemical analysis showed that GEM@CDDP-Sol was more toxic to kidneys and marrow compared with mPEG-PLG-GEM@CDDP micelles.

CONCLUSIONS

By prodrug strategy, gemcitabine and cisplatin with totally different nature were prepared into micelles and obtained a better pharmacokinetic behavior. And the dual drug delivery system performed a better in vivo stability and antitumor effect compared with each single drug delivery system in the experiment. Scheme. Schematic of mPEG-PLG-GEM@CDDP micelles' formation and action process.

Multifunctional Polymeric Nanogels for Biomedical Applications

Currently, research in nanoparticles as a drug delivery system has broadened to include their use as a delivery system for bioactive substances and a diagnostic or theranostic system. Nanogels, nanoparticles containing a high amount of water, have gained attention due to their advantages of colloidal stability, core-shell structure, and adjustable structural components. These advantages provide the potential to design and fabricate multifunctional nanosystems for various biomedical applications. Modified or functionalized polymers and some metals are components that markedly enhance the features of the nanogels, such as tunable amphiphilicity, biocompatibility, stimuli-responsiveness, or sensing moieties, leading to specificity, stability, and tracking abilities. Here, we review the diverse designs of core-shell structure nanogels along with studies on the fabrication and demonstration of the responsiveness of nanogels to different stimuli, temperature, pH, reductive environment, or radiation. Furthermore, additional biomedical applications are presented to illustrate the versatility of the nanogels.

COOH-Terminated Silicon Quantum Dots as a Highly Efficient Drug Nanocarrier for Targeted Tumor Cell Imaging

Fluorescent silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) characterized by exceptional photostability and colloidal robustness as well as beneficial biocompatibility are fast becoming new pharmaceutical nanocarriers. With a view to efficiently loading cisplatin (CDDP) onto SiQDs, carboxylate group (COOH) terminated SiQDs were imperative because of chelate formation with CDDP. In this work, we employed a facial microwave irradiation route for rapidly synthesizing high-quality COOH-SiQDs through the use of 3-aminopropyl trimethoxy silane (APTMS) molecules to fulfil the role of silicon precursor and maleic acid (MA) as the agent for facilitating reduction. The SiQDs showed blue fluorescence with an associated photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 40.2%, the size of which was small at 3.2 ±0.6 nm, and long-lasting stability (an extensive range in pH (4-12) and concentrations of electrolytes reaching 3 Molarity of a solution of sodium chloride). As nanocarriers, carboxylic acids chelation generated a high loading of CDDP onto SiQDs (drug loading capacity, DLC up to 32.2% at pH = 9) and a drug release of CDDP up to 57.6% at pH = 5. Furthermore, the MTT assays demonstrated the non or low cytotoxicity of SiQDs and the role of the controlled release of SiQD-CDDP Finally, the prepared SiQD-CDDP were used for cell imaging, and further targeted labeling of some tumors after folic acid (FA) conjugation. These characteristics allow for the deployment of SiQDs as a highly efficient nanocarrier that facilitate the delivery of clinical drugs for the future.

The influences of monomer structure and solvent on the radical copolymerization of tertiary amine and PEGylated methacrylates

This work presents a meticulous and rigorous investigation of reactivity ratios of commonly used monomers (PEGMA, DEAEMA, and DMAEMA) with high importance for stimuli-responsive materials; a copolymerization mini-library with 9 systems is reported.

Smart Nanoformulation Based on Stimuli-Responsive Nanogels and Curcumin: Promising Therapy against Colon Cancer

Curcumin (CUR) has gained much attention for its widely reported anticancer effect; however, its clinical use is restricted due to its low water solubility and, consequently, its poor bioavailability. Here, we report on the use of a nanoformulation of CUR with cationic nanogels for colon cancer therapy. Cationic stimuli-sensitive nanogels were prepared using a scale-up polymerization methodology based on surfactant-free emulsion polymerization of N,N'-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DEAEM) and poly(ethyleneglycol) methacrylate (PEGMA). The obtained nanogels showed a homogeneous size distribution (from 51 to 162 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) < 0.138) and exhibited a spherical form and core-shell morphology as confirmed by dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy, respectively. Nanogels were responsive to and degradable by variations of pH, temperature, or the redox environment, depending on the cross-linker used in the synthesis. Nanogels cross-linked with bis(acryloyl)cystamine incubated in a buffer (pH 7.4) containing 3 mM glutathione degraded in 60 min, while nanogels cross-linked with a divinylacetal cross-linker degraded in 10 min (pH ≤ 6). Nanoformulations of nanogels with CUR were stable as tested up to 30 days at physiological conditions. In vitro studies of the human colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) showed a synergistic effect of CUR and the degradable nanogels. Further, in vivo acute cytotoxicity tests of empty nanogels in mice demonstrate their potential as CUR nanocarriers for colon-anticancer therapies.

Mitophagy: A crucial modulator in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases

Mitophagy is an autophagic process through which damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria are specifically degraded to maintain cellular homeostasis. It is highly regulated by various signaling pathways such as the PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1)/Parkin and NIP3-like protein X (NIX)/BNIP3 pathways. Additionally, it plays a crucial role in inducing some pathological processes. Notably, some evidence suggesting the association of mitophagy with the occurrence of chronic diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD), cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis (AS), and myocardial ischemia reperfusion (MIR) injury is available. Particularly, it has been reported that mitophagy could hinder the development of PD by activating the PINK1/Parkin pathway and acting as a defense mechanism against the induction of diabetes. Conversely, the induction of mitophagy plays dual roles in driving the process of cancer, AS, and MIR injury. In this review, we have explained the role and regulatory mechanisms through which mitophagy plays a role in these chronic pathologies. Importantly, the pharmacological targeting of mitophagy might prove to be a potential alternative for the treatment of these chronic diseases.