Liposomal nanostructures for Gemcitabine and Paclitaxel delivery in pancreatic cancer

Strategies and challenges of cytosolic delivery of proteins

The cytosolic delivery of therapeutic proteins represents a promising strategy for addressing diseases caused by protein dysfunction. Despite significant advances, efficient delivery remains challenging due to barriers such as cell membrane impermeability, endosomal sequestration and protein instability. This review summarises recent progress in protein delivery systems, including physical, chemical and biological approaches, with a particular focus on strategies that enhance endosomal escape and targeting specificity. We further discuss the clinical translatability of these approaches and propose future directions for improving delivery efficiency and safety, ultimately unlocking the therapeutic potential of intracellular proteins.

Recent Developments in Nanotechnology and Immunotherapy for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer kills millions of people worldwide each year and is one of the most prevalent causes of mortality that requires prompt therapy. A large number of people suffering from pancreatic cancer are detected at an advanced stage, with incurable and drug-resistant tumor, hence the overall survival rate of pancreatic cancer is less. The advance phase of this cancer is generated because of expression of the cancer-causing gene, inactivation of the tumorsuppressing gene, and deregulation of molecules in different cellular signalling pathways. The prompt diagnosis through the biomarkers significantly evades the progress and accelerates the survival rates. The overexpression of Mesothelin, Urokinase plasminogen activator, IGFR, Epidermal growth factor receptor, Plectin-1, Mucin-1 and Zinc transporter 4 were recognized in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Nanotechnology has led to the development of nanocarriersbased formulations (lipid, polymer, inorganic, carbon based and advanced nanocarriers) which overcome the hurdles of conventional therapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy which causes toxicity to adjacent healthy tissues. The biocompatibility, toxicity and large-scale manufacturing are the hurdles associated with the nanocarriers-based approaches. Currently, Immunotherapybased techniques emerged as an efficient therapeutic alternative for the prevention of cancer. Immunological checkpoint targeting techniques have demonstrated significant efficacy in human cancers. Recent advancements in checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive T cell therapies, and cancer vaccines have shown potential in overcoming the immune evasion mechanisms of pancreatic cancer cells. Combining these immunotherapeutic approaches with nanocarriers holds great promise in enhancing the antitumor response and improving patient survival.

Innovative Approaches to Enhancing the Biomedical Properties of Liposomes

Liposomes represent a promising class of drug delivery systems that enhance the therapeutic efficacy and safety of various pharmaceutical agents. Also, they offer numerous advantages compared to traditional drug delivery methods, including targeted delivery to specific sites, controlled release, and fewer side effects. This review meticulously examines the methodologies employed in the preparation and characterization of liposomal formulations. With the rising incidence of adverse drug reactions, there is a pressing need for innovative delivery strategies that prioritize selectivity, specificity, and safety. Nanomedicine promises to revolutionize diagnostics and treatments, addressing current limitations and improving disease management, including cancer, which remains a major global health challenge. This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive study on the interest of biomedical research regarding nanotechnology and its implications for further applications.

Design optimization of Fucoidan-coating Cationic Liposomes for enhance Gemcitabine delivery

Obstacles facing chemotherapeutic drugs for cancers led scientists to load Gemcitabine (GEM) into nanocarriers like liposomes, known for their nontoxicity profile and targeting capacity. The liposomal nanostructures containing GEM were coated with Fucoidan (FU) due to its anti-tumor properties by targeting cancer cells. Thus four different cationic liposomes formulations were prepared by thin-film hydration method in optimal conditions: DOTAP (formulation A); DPPC/DOTAP (4:1 molar ratio, formulation B), DPPC/DMPC/DOTAP (4:1:1 molar ratio, formulation C) and DPPC/DMPC/DOTAP/DSPE-mPEG2000 (4:1:1:0.1 molar ratio, formulation D). They were studied to identify lipid-compositions offering effective GEM-entrapment and successful coating of FU on the liposome surface. Additional qualitative characteristics, such as particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, stability and in vitro drug release were then evaluated. Formulation C gave the best GEM-entrapment efficiency (EE) but formed aggregates when coated with FU, giving non-homogenous large size particles then not suitable for effective delivery. It was the same situation with formulation A and B. Only the formulation D showed a good GEM-EE (> 80%) and affinity by successful coating FU from three different algae species. The PEGylated formulation D coated of FU, with regard to storage stability and drug release studies, revealed to be a promising approach on design of optimal drug delivery system.

Growth inhibition of pancreatic cancer by targeted delivery of gemcitabine via fucoidan-coated pH-sensitive liposomes

Fucoidan-coated pH sensitive liposomes were designed for targeted delivery of gemcitabine (FU-GEM PSL) to treat pancreatic cancer (PC). FU-GEM PSL had a particle size of 175.3 ± 4.9 nm, zeta potential of -19.0 ± 3.7 mV, encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 74.05 ± 0.17 %, and drug loading (DL) of 21.27 ± 0.05 %. Cell experiments in vitro showed that FU-GEM PSL could increase the release of GEM and drug concentration, and could inhibit tumor cell proliferation by affecting the cell cycle. FU-GEM PSL entered cells through macropinocytosis and caveolin-mediated endocytosis to exert effects. Meanwhile, the expression of P-selectin was detected in human tissues, demonstrating the feasibility of targeting FU. Moreover, combined with animal experiments in vivo, FU-GEM PSL could inhibit the development of PC. Furthermore, anti-tumor experiments in vivo carried on BALB/c mice indicated that FU-GEM PSL had tumor suppression abilities and safety. Therefore, FU-GEM PSL is a promising formulation for PC therapy.

Dual drug-loaded tumor-targeted polymeric nanoparticles for enhancing therapeutic response in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease where standard-of-care chemotherapeutic drugs have limited efficacy due to the development of drug resistance and poor drug delivery caused by a highly desmoplastic tumor microenvironment. Combining multiple drugs in a tumor-targeting carrier would be a favorable approach to overcome these limitations. Hence, a tumor-targeted peptide (TTP) conjugated amphiphilic tri-block copolymer was developed to make targeted polymer nanoparticles (TTP-PNPs) serving as a vehicle for carrying gemcitabine (Gem), paclitaxel (PTX), and their combination (Gem + PTX). The TTP-PNPs in the form of empty polymer (P), single drug-loaded [P(Gem) and P(PTX)], and dual drug-loaded [P(Gem + PTX)] polymer nanoformulations exhibited stable and homogenous spherical shapes with 110-160 nm size. These nanoformulations demonstrated excellent stability under in vitro physiological conditions and led to an efficient release of the drugs in the presence of reduced glutathione (GSH). The efficacy of these nanoparticles was thoroughly evaluated in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating a notable capacity to selectively target and restrict PDAC cells (PANC-1 and KPC) growth. The cellular uptake and biodistribution study showed a significantly higher tumor-targeting ability of TTP-PNPs than PNPs without TTP. Notably, P(Gem + PTX) exhibited the lowest IC50 compared to all other controls and showed heightened synergistic effects in both cell lines. Furthermore, P(Gem + PTX) showed a significantly better tumor reduction and median overall survival in mouse models than single drug-loaded TTP-PNPs or a combination of free drugs (Gem + PTX). In summary, our TTP-PNP system shows great promise as a novel platform for delivering Gem + PTX specifically to pancreatic cancer (PC), maximizing the therapeutic benefits with lower concentrations of the drugs and potentially reducing toxic side effects.

Novel erythrocyte-shaped electrosprayed nanoparticles for co-delivery of paclitaxel and osimertinib: Preparation, characterization, and evaluation

In this work, novel erythrocyte-shaped electrosprayed nanoparticles (EENPs) were designed and constructed by tri-axial electrospraying technique with PEG as the outer layer, PLGA as the middle drugs (paclitaxel [PTX] and osimertinib [OSI]) carrier layer and air as the inner layer. The prepared EENP were characterized and evaluated based on their spectral and morphological attributes. After the PTX/OSI ratio and process optimization, the EENP has inspiring features, including nanoscale size, erythrocyte morphology with a concave disk shape, and satisfactory drug loading (DL) and encapsulation efficiency (EE). In vitro drug release showed that PTX and OSI in the formulation were released in the same ratio, and the cumulative release percentage at 24 h was close to 80 %. Furthermore, the TGIR in the EENP formulation group exceeded 90 %, approximately 3.8-fold higher than that in the free drug group. In summary, we developed an erythrocyte three-core-shell nanoparticle for the co-delivery of PTX and OSI, providing a potential chemotherapeutic delivery system for the treatment of breast cancer.

The mitochondria-targeted Kaempferol nanoparticle ameliorates severe acute pancreatitis

Kaempferol (KA), an natural antioxidant of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is extensively used as the primary treatment for inflammatory digestive diseases with impaired redox homeostasis. Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) was exacerbated by mitochondrial dysfunction and abundant ROS, which highlights the role of antioxidants in targeting mitochondrial function. However, low bioavailability and high dosage of KA leading to unavoidable side effects limits clinical transformation. The mechanisms of KA with poor bioavailability largely unexplored, hindering development of the efficient strategies to maximizing the medicinal effects of KA. Here, we engineered a novel thioketals (TK)-modified based on DSPE-PEG2000 liposomal codelivery system for improving bioavailability and avoiding side effects (denotes as DSPE-TK-PEG2000-KA, DTM@KA NPs). We demonstrated that the liposome exerts profound impacts on damaging intracellular redox homeostasis by reducing GSH depletion and activating Nrf2, which synergizes with KA to reinforce the inhibition of inadequate fission, excessive mitochondrial fusion and impaired mitophagy resulting in inflammation and apoptosis; and then, the restored mitochondrial homeostasis strengthens ATP supply for PAC renovation and homeostasis. Interestingly, TK bond was proved as the main functional structure to improve the above efficacy of KA compared with the absence of TK bond. Most importantly, DTM@KA NPs obviously suppresses PAC death with negligible side effects in vitro and vivo. Mechanismly, DTM@KA NPs facilitated STAT6-regulated mitochondrial precursor proteins transport via interacting with TOM20 to further promote Drp1-dependent fission and Pink1/Parkin-regulated mitophagy with enhanced lysosomal degradation for removing damaged mitochondria in PAC and then reduce inflammation and apoptosis. Generally, DTM@KA NPs synergistically improved mitochondrial homeostasis, redox homeostasis, energy metabolism and inflammation response via regulating TOM20-STAT6-Drp1 signaling and promoting mitophagy in SAP. Consequently, such a TCM's active ingredients-based nanomedicine strategy is be expected to be an innovative approach for SAP therapy.

Lipids with negative spontaneous curvature decrease the solubility of the cancer drug paclitaxel in liposomes

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a hydrophobic small-molecule cancer drug that loads into the membrane (tail) region of lipid carriers such as liposomes and micelles. The development of improved lipid-based carriers of PTX is an important objective to generate chemotherapeutics with fewer side effects. The lipids 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) and glyceryl monooleate (GMO) show propensity for fusion with other lipid membranes, which has led to their use in lipid vectors of nucleic acids. We hypothesized that DOPE and GMO could enhance PTX delivery to cells through a similar membrane fusion mechanism. As an important measure of drug carrier performance, we evaluated PTX solubility in cationic liposomes containing GMO or DOPE. Solubility was determined by time-dependent kinetic phase diagrams generated from direct observations of PTX crystal formation using differential-interference-contrast optical microscopy. Remarkably, PTX was much less soluble in these liposomes than in control cationic liposomes containing univalent cationic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), which are not fusogenic. In particular, PTX was not substantially soluble in GMO-based cationic liposomes. The fusogenicity of DOPE and GMO is related to the negative spontaneous curvature of membranes containing these lipids, which drives formation of nonlamellar self-assembled phases (inverted hexagonal or gyroid cubic). To determine whether PTX solubility is governed by lipid membrane structure or by local intermolecular interactions, we used synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering. To increase the signal/noise ratio, we used DNA to condense the lipid formulations into lipoplex pellets. The results suggest that local intermolecular interactions are of greater importance and that the negative spontaneous curvature-inducing lipids DOPE and GMO are not suitable components of liposomal carriers for PTX delivery.

Lipids with negative spontaneous curvature decrease the solubility of the cancer drug paclitaxel in liposomes

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a hydrophobic small-molecule cancer drug that loads into the membrane (tail) region of lipid carriers such as liposomes and micelles. The development of improved lipid-based carriers of PTX is an important objective to generate chemotherapeutics with fewer side effects. The lipids 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) and glyceryl monooleate (GMO) show propensity for fusion with other lipid membranes, which has led to their use in lipid vectors of nucleic acids. We hypothesized that DOPE and GMO could enhance PTX delivery to cells through a similar membrane fusion mechanism. As an important measure of drug carrier performance, we evaluated PTX solubility in cationic liposomes containing GMO or DOPE. Solubility was determined by time-dependent kinetic phase diagrams generated from direct observations of PTX crystal formation using differential-interference-contrast optical microscopy. Remarkably, PTX was much less soluble in these liposomes than in control cationic liposomes containing univalent cationic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), which are not fusogenic. In particular, PTX was not substantially soluble in GMO-based cationic liposomes. The fusogenicity of DOPE and GMO is related to the negative spontaneous curvature of membranes containing these lipids, which drives formation of nonlamellar self-assembled phases (inverted hexagonal or gyroid cubic). We used synchrotron small-angle x-ray scattering to determine whether PTX solubility is governed by lipid membrane structure (condensed with DNA in pellet form) or by local intermolecular interactions. The results suggest that local intermolecular interactions are of greater importance and that the negative spontaneous curvature-inducing lipids DOPE and GMO are not suitable components of lipid carriers for PTX delivery regardless of carrier structure.