Transferrin-bearing dendrimers for cancer therapy: an update

Pre-coating cRGD-modified bovine serum albumin enhanced the anti-tumor angiogenesis of siVEGF-loaded chitosan-based nanoparticles by manipulating the protein corona composition

Chitosan-based nanoparticles inevitably adsorb numerous proteins in the bloodstream, forming a protein corona that significantly influences their functionality. This study employed a pre-coated protein corona using cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp peptide (cRGD)-modified bovine serum albumin (BcR) to confer tumor-targeting capabilities on siVEGF-loaded chitosan-based nanoparticles (CsR/siVEGF NPs) and actively manipulated the serum protein corona composition to enhance their anti-tumor angiogenesis. Consequently, BcR effectively binds to the nanoparticles' surface, generating nanocarriers of appropriate size and stability that enhance the inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tube formation, as well as suppress tumor proliferation and angiogenesis in tumor-bearing nude mice. Proteomic analysis indicated a significant enrichment of serotransferrin, albumin, and proteasome subunit alpha type-1 in the protein corona of BcR-precoated NPs formed in the serum of tumor-bearing nude mice. Additionally, there was a decrease in proteins associated with complement activation, immunoglobulins, blood coagulation, and acute-phase responses. This modification resulted in an enhanced impact on anti-tumor angiogenesis, along with a reduction in opsonization and inflammatory responses. Therefore, pre-coating of nanoparticles with a functionalized albumin corona to manipulate the composition of serum protein corona emerges as an innovative approach to improve the delivery effectiveness of chitosan-based carriers for siVEGF, targeting the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis.

Targeting cancer cells with nanotherapeutics and nanodiagnostics: Current status and future perspectives

Nanotechnology is reshaping health care strategies and is expected to exert a tremendous impact in the coming years offering better healthcare facilities. It has led to not only therapeutic drug delivery feasibility but also to diagnostics. Materials in the size of nano range (1-100 nm) used in the design, fabrication, regulation, and application of therapeutic drugs or devices are classified as medical nanotechnology and nanopharmacology. Delivery of more complex molecules to the specific site of action as well as gene therapy has pushed forward the nanoparticle-based drug delivery to its maximum. Areas that benefit from nano-based drug delivery systems are cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, blood disorders and orthopedic-related ailments. Moreover, development of nanotherapeutics with multi-functionalities has a considerable potential to fill the gaps that exist in the present therapeutic domain. In cancer treatment, nanomedicines have superiority over current therapeutic practices as they can effectively deliver the drug to the affected tissues, thus reducing drug toxicities. Along this line, polymeric conjugates of asparaginase and polymeric micelles of paclitaxel have recently been recommended for the treatment of various types of cancers. Nanotechnology-based therapeutics and diagnostics provide greater effectiveness with less or no toxicity concerns. Similarly, diagnostic imaging holds promising future applications with newer nano-level imaging elements. Advancements in nanotechnology have emerged to a newer direction which use nanorobotics for various applications in healthcare. Accordingly, this review comprehensively highlights the potentialities of various nanocarriers and nanomedicines for multifaceted applications in diagnostics and drug delivery, especially the potentialities of polymeric nanoparticle, nanoemulsion, solid-lipid nanoparticle, nanostructured lipid carrier, self-micellizing anticancer lipids, dendrimer, nanocapsule and nanosponge-based therapeutic approaches in the field of cancer. Furthermore, this article summarizes the most recent literature pertaining to the use of nano-technology in the field of medicine, particularly in treating cancer patients.

Vectors and strategies for nonviral cancer gene therapy

INTRODUCTION

This review presents recent developments in the use of nonviral vectors and transfer technologies in cancer gene therapy. Tremendous progress has been made in developing cancer gene therapy in ways that could be applicable to treatments. Numerous efforts are focused on methods of attacking known and novel targets more efficiently and specifically. In parallel to progress in nonviral vector design and delivery technologies, important achievements have been accomplished for suicide, gene replacement, gene suppression and immunostimulatory therapies. New nonviral cancer gene therapies have been developed based on emerging RNAi (si/shRNA-, miRNA) or ODN.

AREAS COVERED

This review provides an overview of recent gene therapeutic strategies in which nonviral vectors have been used experimentally and in clinical trials. Furthermore, we present current developments in nonviral vector systems in association with important chemical and physical gene delivery technologies and their potential for the future.

EXPERT OPINION

Nonviral gene therapy has maintained its position as an approach for treating cancer. This is reflected by the fact that more than 17% of all gene therapy trials employ nonviral approaches. Thus, nonviral vectors have emerged as a clinical alternative to viral vectors for the appropriate expression and delivery of therapeutic genes.

Analyses of Acceptability Judgments Made Toward the Use of Nanocarrier-Based Targeted Drug Delivery: Interviews with Researchers and Research Trainees in the Field of New Technologies

The assessment of nanotechnology applications such as nanocarrier-based targeted drug delivery (TDD) has historically been based mostly on toxicological and safety aspects. The use of nanocarriers for TDD, a leading-edge nanomedical application, has received little study from the angle of experts' perceptions and acceptability, which may be reflected in how TDD applications are developed. In recent years, numerous authors have maintained that TDD assessment should also take into account impacts on ethical, environmental, economic, legal, and social (E³LS) issues in order to lead to socially responsible innovation. Semi-structured interviews (n = 22) were conducted with French and Canadian researchers and research trainees with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and involved in research related to emerging technologies. The interviews focussed on scenarios presenting two types of TDD nanocarriers (carbon, synthetic DNA) in two contexts of use (lung cancer, seasonal flu). Content and inductive analyses of interviews showed how facets of perceived impacts such as health, environment, social cohabitation, economy, life and death, representations of the human being and nature, and technoscience were weighed in acceptability judgments. The analyses also revealed that contextual factors related to device (nature of the treatment), to use (gravity of the disease), and to user (culture) influenced the weighting assigned to perceived impacts and thus contributed to variability in interviewees' judgments of acceptability. Giving consideration to researchers' perspective could accompany first steps of implementation and development of nanomedicine by producing a first, but wide, picture of the acceptability of nanocarrier-based TDD.