Folic Acid-Modified Ibrutinib-Loaded Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Cancer Cell Therapy with Over-Expressed Folate Receptor

Silk fibroin: An innovative protein macromolecule-based hydrogel/ scaffold revolutionizing breast cancer treatment and diagnosis - Mechanisms, advancements, and targeting capabilities

Breast cancer (BC) is recognized as the most typical cancer diagnosed in women globally, posing significant public health challenges. Several protein-based biological macromolecules have been investigated for drug delivery in BC treatment due to biological and tunable mechanical properties. Silk fibroin (SF)-based hydrogel/scaffold is gaining attraction in BC therapy. The functionalization of SF with folic acid or antibodies enables targeted delivery to BC cells that overexpress folate receptors. In this context, this perspective article explored the potential biological activity, targeting capacity, functionalization, and drug carrier abilities of SF-based hydrogel for BC therapy. In addition, the article exclusively delves into the potential molecular pathways of SF-based hydrogel/ scaffolds for targeted therapy in BC. The article also summarizes the perspectives on the diagnosis abilities of SF-based hydrogel/ scaffolds in BC treatment, making it the first instance of such perspective literature. This insightful literature presents practical guidance for researchers, clinicians, and scientists eager to investigate the innovative biological applications and targeting potential of SF-based hydrogels and scaffolds in advancing breast cancer treatments.

Folate from probiotic bacteria and its therapeutic applications

Folate, an essential water soluble vitamin B9 that cannot be synthesized naturally by the bodily function. Dietary sources or probiotic-folates are the two biological modes for acquiring the target vitamin which aids DNA synthesis and repair. Probiotics are known for their divergent health benefits and have garnered significant interest. Particularly in microbial strains that produce folate offers a promising way to enhance the level of folate. Notably, folate-producing probiotic strain includes Lactiplantibacillus, Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Streptococcus. As an emerging source of health benefits, folate producing probiotics helps in improving the gut microbiota for overall well-being of human body. On the other side, chemically synthesized folic acid were not highly advantageous as they lacks absorption, conversion and excretion. Hence, usage of microbial-folate are safer as it can easily undergo absorption and reduces severe side effects. The present review mainly focus on folate one-carbon metabolism, its significance in human health, folate deficiency and malabsorption, adverse effects and folate synthesis from probiotic bacterial strains, and also toxicological impacts. In particular, the beneficiary role of these probiotic strains were found to be associated with therapeutic applications in several diseases such as autoimmune disorder, metabolic disorders, and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), wound healing, drug delivery and cancer.

Surface receptor-targeted protein-based nanocarriers for drug delivery: advances in cancer therapy

Significant progress has been made in cancer therapy with protein-based nanocarriers targeted directly to surface receptors for drug delivery. The nanocarriers are a potentially effective solution for the potential drawbacks of traditional chemotherapy, such as lack of specificity, side effects, and development resistance. Peptides as nanocarriers have been designed based on their biocompatible, biodegradable, and versatile functions to deliver therapeutic agents into cancer cells, reduce systemic toxicity, and maximize therapy efficacy through utilizing targeted ligands such as antibodies, amino acids, vitamins, and other small molecules onto protein-based nanocarriers and thus ensuring that drugs selectively accumulate in the cancer cells instead of healthy organs/drug release at a target site without effects on normal cells, which inherently caused less systemic toxicity/off-target effect. Moreover, their intrinsic protein backbone naturally degradesin vivo, providing another level of safety over synthetic materials. Various issues like immunogenicity, mass production, and quality control must be addressed for widespread use. However, further studies are necessary to perfect protein engineering and improve drug loading, protein modification, and targeting. Thus, it can be concluded that protein-based nanocarriers targeted against the surface receptors would help achieve cancer management in a more focused manner, thus minimizing toxicity. The further development of these nanoparticles could bring a significant change in cancer treatment so that more personalized, targeted, and safe therapies would be available to all patients.

Folic Acid-Decorated Nanocrystals as Highly Loaded Trojan Horses to Target Cancer Cells

The nanocrystal (NC) technology has become one of the most commonly used strategies for the formulation of poorly soluble actives. Given their large specific surface, NCs are mainly used to enhance the oral absorption of poorly soluble actives. Differently from conventional nanoparticles, which require the use of carrier materials and have limited drug loadings, NCs' drug loading approaches 100% since they are formed of the pure drug and surrounded by a thin layer of a stabilizer. In this work, we report the covalent decoration of curcumin NCs with folic acid (FA) using EDC/NHS chemistry and explore the novel systems as highly loaded "Trojan horses" to target cancer cells. The decorated NCs demonstrated a remarkable improvement in curcumin uptake, exhibiting enhanced growth inhibition in cancer cells (HeLa and MCF7) while sparing healthy cells (J774A.1). Cellular uptake studies revealed significantly heightened entry of FA-decorated NCs into cancer cells compared to unmodified NCs while also showing reduced uptake by macrophages, indicating a potential for prolonged circulation in vivo. These findings underline the potential of NC highly loaded nanovectors for drug delivery and, in particular, for cancer therapies, effectively targeting folate receptor-overexpressing cells while evading interception by macrophages, thus preserving their viability and offering a promising avenue for precise and effective treatments.

Different Targeting Ligands-Mediated Drug Delivery Systems for Tumor Therapy

Traditional tumor treatments have the drawback of harming both tumor cells and normal cells, leading to significant systemic toxic side effects. As a result, there is a pressing need for targeted drug delivery methods that can specifically target cells or tissues. Currently, researchers have made significant progress in developing targeted drug delivery systems for tumor therapy using various targeting ligands. This review aims to summarize recent advancements in targeted drug delivery systems for tumor therapy, focusing on different targeting ligands such as folic acid, carbohydrates, peptides, aptamers, and antibodies. The review also discusses the advantages, challenges, and future prospects of these targeted drug delivery systems.