Docetaxel-Loaded Hyaluronic Acid-Cathepsin B-Cleavable-Peptide-Gold Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Cancer

Cathepsin B: The dawn of tumor therapy

Cathepsin B (CTSB) is a key lysosomal protease that plays a crucial role in the development of cancer. This article elucidates the relationship between CTSB and cancer from the perspectives of its structure, function, and role in tumor growth, migration, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and autophagy. Further, we summarized the research progress of cancer treatment related drugs targeting CTSB, as well as the potential and advantages of Traditional Chinese medicine in treating tumors by regulating the expression of CTSB.

Harnessing the power of gold: advancements in anticancer gold complexes and their functionalized nanoparticles

Cancer poses a formidable challenge, necessitating improved treatment strategies. Metal-based drugs and nanotechnology offer new hope in this battle. Versatile gold complexes and functionalized gold nanoparticles exhibit unique properties like biologically inert behaviour, outstanding light absorption, and heat-conversion abilities. These nanoparticles can be finely tuned for drug delivery, enabling precise and targeted cancer therapy. Their exceptional drug-loading capacity and low toxicity, stemming from excellent stability, biocompatibility, and customizable shapes, make them a promising option for enhancing cancer treatment outcomes and improving diagnostic imaging. Leveraging these attributes, researchers can design more effective and targeted cancer therapeutics. The potential of functionalized gold nanoparticles to advance cancer treatment and diagnostics holds a promising avenue for further exploration and development in the fight against cancer. This review article delves into the finely tuned attributes of functionalized gold nanoparticles, unveiling their potential for application in drug delivery for precise and targeted cancer therapy.

Dual enhancement in the radiosensitivity of prostate cancer through nanoparticles and chemotherapeutics

Background

Radiotherapy (RT) is an essential component in the treatment regimens for many cancer patients. However, the dose escalation required to improve curative results is hindered due to the normal tissue toxicity that is induced. The introduction of radiosensitizers to RT treatment is an avenue that is currently being explored to overcome this issue. By introducing radiosensitizers into tumor sites, it is possible to preferentially enhance the local dose deposited. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are a potential candidate that have shown great promise in increasing the radiosensitivity of cancer cells through an enhancement in DNA damage. Furthermore, docetaxel (DTX) is a chemotherapeutic agent that arrests cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, the phase most sensitive to radiation damage. We hypothesized that by incorporating DTX to GNP-enhanced radiotherapy treatment, we could further improve the radiosensitization experienced by cancer cells. To assess this strategy, we analyzed the radiotherapeutic effects on monolayer cell cultures in vitro, as well as on a mice prostate xenograft model in vivo while using clinically feasible concentrations for both GNPs and DTX.

Results

The introduction of DTX to GNP-enhanced radiotherapy further increased the radiotherapeutic effects experienced by cancer cells. A 38% increase in DNA double-strand breaks was observed with the combination of GNP/DTX vs GNP alone after a dose of 2 Gy was administered. In vivo results displayed significant reduction in tumor growth over a 30-day observation period with the treatment of GNP/DTX/RT when compared to GNP/RT after a single 5 Gy dose was given to mice. The treatment strategy also resulted in 100% mice survival, which was not observed for other treatment conditions.

Conclusions

Incorporating DTX to work in unison with GNPs and RT can increase the efficacy of RT treatment. Our study suggests that the treatment strategy could improve tumor control through local dose enhancement. As the concentrations used in this study are clinically feasible, there is potential for this strategy to be translated into clinical settings.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12645-023-00228-0.

Smart Delivery Systems Responsive to Cathepsin B Activity for Cancer Treatment

Cathepsin B is a lysosomal cysteine protease, contributing to vital cellular homeostatic processes including protein turnover, macroautophagy of damaged organelles, antigen presentation, and in the extracellular space, it takes part in tissue remodeling, prohormone processing, and activation. However, aberrant overexpression of cathepsin B and its enzymatic activity is associated with different pathological conditions, including cancer. Cathepsin B overexpression in tumor tissues makes this enzyme an important target for smart delivery systems, responsive to the activity of this enzyme. The generation of technologies which therapeutic effect is activated as a result of cathepsin B cleavage provides an opportunity for tumor-targeted therapy and controlled drug release. In this review, we summarized different technologies designed to improve current cancer treatments responsive to the activity of this enzyme that were shown to play a key role in disease progression and response to the treatment.

Polyethyleneimine-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Cancer Theranostics

With the development of nanotechnology, various types of polymer-based drug delivery systems have been designed for biomedical applications. Polymer-based drug delivery systems with desirable biocompatibility can be efficiently delivered to tumor sites with passive or targeted effects and combined with other therapeutic and imaging agents for cancer theranostics. As an effective vehicle for drug and gene delivery, polyethyleneimine (PEI) has been extensively studied due to its rich surface amines and excellent water solubility. In this work, we summarize the surface modifications of PEI to enhance biocompatibility and functionalization. Additionally, the synthesis of PEI-based nanoparticles is discussed. We further review the applications of PEI-based drug delivery systems in cancer treatment, cancer imaging, and cancer theranostics. Finally, we thoroughly consider the outlook and challenges relating to PEI-based drug delivery systems.

Sustained Drug Release from Smart Nanoparticles in Cancer Therapy: A Comprehensive Review

Although nanomedicine has been highly investigated for cancer treatment over the past decades, only a few nanomedicines are currently approved and in the market; making this field poorly represented in clinical applications. Key research gaps that require optimization to successfully translate the use of nanomedicines have been identified, but not addressed; among these, the lack of control of the release pattern of therapeutics is the most important. To solve these issues with currently used nanomedicines (e.g., burst release, systemic release), different strategies for the design and manufacturing of nanomedicines allowing for better control over the therapeutic release, are currently being investigated. The inclusion of stimuli-responsive properties and prolonged drug release have been identified as effective approaches to include in nanomedicine, and are discussed in this paper. Recently, smart sustained release nanoparticles have been successfully designed to safely and efficiently deliver therapeutics with different kinetic profiles, making them promising for many drug delivery applications and in specific for cancer treatment. In this review, the state-of-the-art of smart sustained release nanoparticles is discussed, focusing on the design strategies and performances of polymeric nanotechnologies. A complete list of nanomedicines currently tested in clinical trials and approved nanomedicines for cancer treatment is presented, critically discussing advantages and limitations with respect to the newly developed nanotechnologies and manufacturing methods. By the presented discussion and the highlight of nanomedicine design criteria and current limitations, this review paper could be of high interest to identify key features for the design of release-controlled nanomedicine for cancer treatment.

Designing the Surface Chemistry of Inorganic Nanocrystals for Cancer Imaging and Therapy

Inorganic nanocrystals, such as gold, iron oxide and semiconductor quantum dots, offer promising prospects for cancer diagnostics, imaging and therapy, due to their specific plasmonic, magnetic or fluorescent properties. The organic coating, or surface ligands, of these nanoparticles ensures their colloidal stability in complex biological fluids and enables their functionalization with targeting functions. It also controls the interactions of the nanoparticle with biomolecules in their environment. It therefore plays a crucial role in determining nanoparticle biodistribution and, ultimately, the imaging or therapeutic efficiency. This review summarizes the various strategies used to develop optimal surface chemistries for the in vivo preclinical and clinical application of inorganic nanocrystals. It discusses the current understanding of the influence of the nanoparticle surface chemistry on its colloidal stability, interaction with proteins, biodistribution and tumor uptake, and the requirements to develop an optimal surface chemistry.

Multifunctional Gold Nanoparticles in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world, behind only cardiovascular diseases, and is one of the most serious diseases threatening human health nowadays. Cancer patients’ lives are being extended by the use of contemporary medical technologies, such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, these treatments are not always effective in extending cancer patients’ lives. Simultaneously, these approaches are often accompanied with a series of negative consequences, such as the occurrence of adverse effects and an increased risk of relapse. As a result, the development of a novel cancer-eradication strategy is still required. The emergence of nanomedicine as a promising technology brings a new avenue for the circumvention of limitations of conventional cancer therapies. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), in particular, have garnered extensive attention due to their many specific advantages, including customizable size and shape, multiple and useful physicochemical properties, and ease of functionalization. Based on these characteristics, many therapeutic and diagnostic applications of AuNPs have been exploited, particularly for malignant tumors, such as drug and nucleic acid delivery, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, and X-ray-based computed tomography imaging. To leverage the potential of AuNPs, these applications demand a comprehensive and in-depth overview. As a result, we discussed current achievements in AuNPs in anticancer applications in a more methodical manner in this review. Also addressed in depth are the present status of clinical trials, as well as the difficulties that may be encountered when translating some basic findings into the clinic, in order to serve as a reference for future studies.

Nanocarriers for anticancer drugs: challenges and perspectives

Cancer is the second most common cause of death globally, surpassed only by cardiovascular disease. One of the hallmarks of cancer is uncontrolled cell division and resistance to cell death. Multiple approaches have been developed to tackle this disease, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy is used primarily to control cell division and induce cell death, some cancer cells are able to resist apoptosis and develop tolerance to these drugs. The side effects of chemotherapy are often overwhelming, and patients can experience more adverse effects than benefits. Furthermore, the bioavailability and stability of drugs used for chemotherapy are crucial issues that must be addressed, and there is therefore a high demand for a reliable delivery system that ensures fast and accurate targeting of treatment. In this review, we discuss the different types of nanocarriers, their properties and recent advances in formulations, with respect to relevant advantages and disadvantages of each.

Role of Nanotechnology and Their Perspectives in the Treatment of Kidney Diseases

Nanoparticles (NPs) are differing in particle size, charge, shape, and compatibility of targeting ligands, which are linked to improved pharmacologic characteristics, targetability, and bioavailability. Researchers are now tasked with developing a solution for enhanced renal treatment that is free of side effects and delivers the medicine to the active spot. A growing number of nano-based medication delivery devices are being used to treat renal disorders. Kidney disease management and treatment are currently causing a substantial global burden. Renal problems are multistep processes involving the accumulation of a wide range of molecular and genetic alterations that have been related to a variety of kidney diseases. Renal filtration is a key channel for drug elimination in the kidney, as well as a burgeoning topic of nanomedicine. Although the use of nanotechnology in the treatment of renal illnesses is still in its early phases, it offers a lot of potentials. In this review, we summarized the properties of the kidney and characteristics of drug delivery systems, which affect a drug’s ability should focus on the kidney and highlight the possibilities, problems, and opportunities.

Microemulsion Based Nanostructures for Drug Delivery

Most of the active pharmaceutical compounds are often prone to display low bioavailability and biological degradation represents an important drawback. Due to the above, the development of a drug delivery system (DDS) that enables the introduction of a pharmaceutical compound through the body to achieve a therapeutic effect in a controlled manner is an expanding application. Henceforth, new strategies have been developed to control several parameters considered essential for enhancing delivery of drugs. Nanostructure synthesis by microemulsions (ME) consist of enclosing a substance within a wall material at the nanoscale level, allowing to control the size and surface area of the resulting particle. This nanotechnology has shown the importance on targeted drug delivery to improve their stability by protecting a bioactive compound from an adverse environment, enhanced bioavailability as well as controlled release. Thus, a lower dose administration could be achieved by minimizing systemic side effects and decreasing toxicity. This review will focus on describing the different biocompatible nanostructures synthesized by ME as controlled DDS for therapeutic purposes.

Hyaluronic Acid-Modified Nanoparticles Self-Assembled from Linoleic Acid-Conjugated Chitosan for the Codelivery of miR34a and Doxorubicin in Resistant Breast Cancer

In this study, a chitosan-based, self-assembled nanosystem that codelivered microRNA34a (miR34a) and doxorubicin (Dox) with hyaluronic acid (HA) modification (named CCmDH NPs) was developed to reverse the resistance of breast cancer (BCa) cells to Dox. The CCmDH NPs had a diameter of 180 ± 8.3 nm and a ζ potential of 16.5 mV with a slow-release effect for 96 h. The codelivery system could protect miR34a from nuclease and serum degradation and transport miR34a and Dox into drug-resistant MCF-7/A cells. In addition, the CCmDH NPs could inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis by regulating the protein expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and inhibit invasion, metastasis, and adhesion by regulating E-cadherin, N-cadherin, MMP2, CD44, and Snail molecules. The CCmDH NPs induced a 73.7% tumor reduction in xenograft tumor growth in nude mice in vivo. This study provides evidence for the anticancer activity of CCmDH NPs carrying Dox and miR34a in BCa, especially metastatic Dox-resistant BCa models.

Recent advancements in synthesis and drug delivery utilization of polysaccharides-based nanocomposites: The important role of nanoparticles and layered double hydroxides

Drug delivery systems are explained as methods to deliver a specific drug to desired organs, tissues, and cells for drug release to diseases treatment. Recently, considerable development has been interested in stimuli-responsive nano-systems, which respond to the essential pathological and physicochemical issues in diseased sites. During the last decades, researchers in the world presented, investigated, and implemented novel different nanomaterials with a focus on developing drug delivery. Polysaccharides including chitosan, alginate, hyaluronic acid, gums, and cellulose, as natural bio-materials, are suitable candidates for designing and formulations of these nano-systems because of the outstanding merits such as bio-compatibility, bio-degradability, non-toxicity, and gelling characteristics. On the other side, nanoparticles including metals (Au, Ag), metal oxides (Fe₃O₄, ZnO, CuO), or non-metal oxides (SiO₂) and also, layered double hydroxides nanostructures have appealed significant consideration in the fields of biomedical therapeutics and cancer therapy owing to the bio-compatibility, great surface area, good chemical and mechanical features, and also proper magnetic characteristics. This comprehensive review provides an overview of current advancements in drug delivery strategies, and manufacturing methods using chitosan, alginate, hyaluronic acid, gums, and also, metals, metal oxides, non-metal oxides, and LDHs for delivery system uses.

Intelligent and spatiotemporal drug release based on multifunctional nanoparticle-integrated dissolving microneedle system for synergetic chemo-photothermal therapy to eradicate melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is one of the most common malignant skin cancer with high lethality. Chemotherapy and photothermal therapy are important and extensively studied treatment modalities for melanoma. However, these therapies still face some challenges, which severely restrict their further applications, such as unsatisfactory efficacy of monotherapy, nonspecific uptake and release during drug delivery, and unexpected adverse effects from system administration. Recently, the strategies of collaboration, functional modification, stimuli-responsive design, and topical administration all show great prospect for solving above problems. In this research, a multifunctional nanoparticle-integrated dissolving microneedle drug delivery system was constructed, in which the nanoparticles were prepared based on the framework with the incorporation of photothermal agent (CuS) into Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 and functionalized by hyaluronic acid. This system can co-load multi-modal drugs, improve specific uptake and distribution of targeted tumor, deliver drug locally, and release drug intelligently and spatiotemporally, thereby promising a low-dose administration with high efficiency. The high inhibiting tumor performance and excellent systematic safety were verified both in vitro and in vivo. Together, this smart design overcame the drawbacks of monotherapy and conventional system administration. We believe the nanoparticle-integrated dissolving microneedles will be in prospect of clinical application for more superficial tumors with further delicate optimization. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Melanoma is one of the most common skin cancers with high lethality. Extensively studied chemotherapy and photothermal therapy still face some challenges, such as the limited therapeutic efficacy and the severe system adverse effects. In order to overcome these drawbacks, the multifunctional nanoparticle-integrated dissolving microneedles (DMNs) were designed. Especially, the nanoparticles could co-load multi-modal drugs, improve specific uptake, and release drug intelligently and spatiotemporally. The microneedles could increase the drug accumulation in tumor, thus achieving excellent therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects. This system paved the way to a less invasive, more focused and efficient therapeutic strategy for melanoma therapy.

Hyaluronate-Thiol Passivation Enhances Gold Nanoparticle Peritumoral Distribution When Administered Intratumorally in Lung Cancer

Biofouling is the unwanted adsorption of cells, proteins, or intracellular and extracellular biomolecules that can spontaneously occur on the surface of metal nanocomplexes. It represents a major issue in bioinorganic chemistry because it leads to the creation of a protein corona, which can destabilize a colloidal solution and result in undesired macrophage-driven clearance, consequently causing failed delivery of a targeted drug cargo. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a bioactive, natural mucopolysaccharide with excellent antifouling properties, arising from its hydrophilic and polyanionic characteristics in physiological environments which prevent opsonization. In this study, hyaluronate-thiol (HA-SH) (MW 10 kDa) was used to surface-passivate gold nanoparticles (GNPs) synthesized using a citrate reduction method. HA functionalized GNP complexes (HA-GNPs) were characterized using absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, zeta potential, and dynamic light scattering. GNP cellular uptake and potential dose-dependent cytotoxic effects due to treatment were evaluated in vitro in HeLa cells using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and trypan blue and MTT assays. Further, we quantified the in vivo biodistribution of intratumorally injected HA functionalized GNPs in Lewis Lung carcinoma (LLC) solid tumors grown on the flank of C57BL/6 mice and compared localization and retention with nascent particles. Our results reveal that HA-GNPs show overall greater peritumoral distribution (** p < 0.005, 3 days post-intratumoral injection) than citrate-GNPs with reduced biodistribution in off-target organs. This property represents an advantageous step forward in localized delivery of metal nano-complexes to the infiltrative region of a tumor, which may improve the application of nanomedicine in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Enhanced target-specific delivery of docetaxel-loaded nanoparticles using engineered T cell receptors

For effective targeted therapy of cancer with chemotherapy-loaded nanoparticles (NPs), antigens that are selective for cancer cells should be targeted to minimise off-tumour toxicity. Human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) are attractive cancer targets as they can present peptides from tumour-selective proteins on the cell surface, which can be recognised by T cells via T cell receptors (TCRs). In this study, docetaxel-loaded polymeric NPs were conjugated to recombinant affinity-enhanced TCRs to target breast cancer cells presenting a tumour-selective peptide-HLA complex. The TCR-conjugated nanoparticles enabled enhanced delivery of docetaxel and induced cell death through tumour-specific peptide-HLA targeting. These in vitro data demonstrate the potential of targeting tumour-restricted peptide-HLA epitopes using high affinity TCR-conjugated nanoparticles, representing a novel treatment strategy to deliver therapeutic drugs specifically to cancer cells.

Inclusion Complex of Docetaxel with Sulfobutyl Ether β-Cyclodextrin: Preparation, In Vitro Cytotoxicity and In Vivo Safety

Docetaxel (DTX), as a first-line anti-tumor drug, has been studied for decades for its diverse bioactivities. However, DTX presents poor solubility in water, low bioavailability and serious toxic side effects which has hindered its application in the clinic. To address these problems, docetaxel-sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (DTX-SBE-β-CD) was prepared successfully by saturated aqueous solution method. Sulfobutyl ether β-cyclodetrin (SBE-β-CD) is used as delivery material. For this study, the inclusion complex of docetaxel with sulfobutyl ether β-cyclodetrin (DTX-SBE-β-CD) was prepared and optimized its properties to enhance the cytotoxicity of cancer cells. A large number of physical characterization results showed that DTX-SBE-β-CD inclusion complex was successfully prepared by saturated aqueous solution method. DTX-SBE-β-CD inclusion complex was optimized by Central Composite Design. DTX-SBE-β-CD had an inhibitory effect on the in vitro determination of MCF-7 and HepG2 cells by MTT assay. Pharmacokinetic studies were carried out on male Sprague–Dawley rats by tail injection, including the distribution, metabolism and elimination of DTX-SBE-β-CD in vivo. In the experimental study of inhibition of cancer cells, DTX and DTX-SBE-β-CD showed apparent concentration-dependent inhibitory actions on tumor cells and the inhibition of DTX-SBE-β-CD group was more obvious.

Activatable Photodynamic Therapy with Therapeutic Effect Prediction Based on a Self-correction Upconversion Nanoprobe

Though emerging as a promising therapeutic approach for cancers, the crucial challenge for photodynamic therapy (PDT) is activatable phototoxicity for selective cancer cell destruction with low "off-target" damage and simultaneous therapeutic effect prediction. Here, we design an upconversion nanoprobe for intracellular cathepsin B (CaB)-responsive PDT with in situ self-corrected therapeutic effect prediction. The upconversion nanoprobe is composed of multishelled upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) NaYF₄:Gd@NaYF₄:Er,Yb@NaYF₄:Nd,Yb, which covalently modified with an antenna molecule 800CW for UCNPs luminance enhancement under NIR irradiation, photosensitizer Rose Bengal (RB) for PDT, Cy3 for therapeutic effect prediction, and CaB substrate peptide labeled with a QSY7 quencher. The energy of UCNPs emission at 540 nm is transferred to Cy3/RB and eventually quenched by QSY7 via two continuous luminance resonance energy transfer processes from interior UCNPs to its surface-extended QSY7. The intracellular CaB specifically cleaves peptide to release QSY7, which correspondingly activates RB with reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation for PDT and recovers Cy3 luminance for CaB imaging. UCNPs emission at 540 nm remains unchanged during the peptide cleavage process, which is served as an internal standard for Cy3 luminance correction, and the fluorescence intensity ratio of Cy3 over UCNPs (FI583/FI540) is measured for self-corrected therapeutic effect prediction. The proposed self-corrected upconversion nanoprobe implies significant potential in precise tumor therapy.

Development and application of hyaluronic acid in tumor targeting drug delivery

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural polysaccharide that has gained much attention due to its biocompatibility, enzyme degradation capacity and active tumor targeting capacity. Its receptor, CD44, is overexpressed in many kinds of cancers and is associated with tumor progress, infiltration and metastasis. Therefore, many researchers have developed various HA-based drug delivery systems for CD44-mediated tumor targeting. In this review, we systemically overview the basic theory of HA, its receptor and hyaluronidase, then we categorize the studies in HA-based drug delivery systems according to the functions of HA, including tumor-targeting materials, enzyme-sensitive biodegradable modality, pH-sensitive component, reduction-sensitive component, and the gel backbone. Finally, the perspective is discussed.

CD44-Targeted Multifunctional Nanomedicines Based on a Single-Component Hyaluronic Acid Conjugate with All-Natural Precursors: Construction and Treatment of Metastatic Breast Tumors in Vivo

Metastasis is responsible for >90% of the deaths of breast cancer patients in the clinic. Here, we report on cross-linked multifunctional hyaluronic acid nanoparticles carrying docetaxel (DTX-CMHN) for enhanced suppression of highly metastatic 4T1 breast tumors in vivo. DTX-CMHN was formed from a single and all-natural hyaluronic acid-g-polytyrosine-lipoic acid conjugate (HA-g-PTyr-LA; HA, 20 kDa; PTyr, 2.2 kDa), and the size of DTX-CMHN increased from 69 to 78 to 96 nm as the increasing degree of substitution (DS) of PTyr increased from 4 to 11 to 15, respectively. Robust encapsulation of DTX was obtained when DS ≥ 11. DTX-CMHN while steady in a nonreducing environment was destabilized under 10 mM glutathione releasing ∼90% of the DTX within 24 h. It is noteworthy that DTX-CMHN exhibited better antitumor, antimigration, and anti-invasion activity in CD44-overexpressed 4T1-Luc breast cancer cells than free DTX. Interestingly, DTX-CMHN displayed a long elimination half-life of 5.75 h, in contrast to half-lives of 2.11 and 0.75 h for its non-cross-linked counterpart (DTX-MHN) and free DTX, respectively. In vivo therapeutic studies showed significantly better inhibition of primary 4T1-Luc tumor growth and lung metastasis and lower toxicity of DTX-CMHN compared with that of free DTX. These multifunctional nanoformulations based on a single and all-natural hyaluronic acid conjugate emerge as a potential nanoplatform for targeted treatment of CD44-positive metastatic tumors.