Optimized acriflavine-loaded lipid nanocapsules as a safe and effective delivery system to treat breast cancer

Ultrastable Iodinated Oil-Based Pickering Emulsion Enables Locoregional Sustained Codelivery of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 Inhibitor and Anticancer Drugs for Tumor Combination Chemotherapy

Tumor hypoxia-associated drug resistance presents a major challenge for cancer chemotherapy. However, sustained delivery systems with a high loading capability of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) inhibitors are still limited. Here, we developed an ultrastable iodinated oil-based Pickering emulsion (PE) to achieve locally sustained codelivery of a HIF-1 inhibitor of acriflavine and an anticancer drug of doxorubicin for tumor synergistic chemotherapy. The PE exhibited facile injectability for intratumoral administration, great radiopacity for in vivo examination, excellent physical stability (>1 mo), and long-term sustained release capability of both hydrophilic drugs (i.e., acriflavine and doxorubicin). We found that the codelivery of acriflavine and doxorubicin from the PE promoted the local accumulation and retention of both drugs using an acellular liver organ model and demonstrated significant inhibition of tumor growth in a 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse model, improving the chemotherapeutic efficacy through the synergistic effects of direct cytotoxicity with the functional suppression of HIF-1 pathways of tumor cells. Such an iodinated oil-based PE provides a great injectable sustained delivery platform of hydrophilic drugs for locoregional chemotherapy.

Targeting Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) in Cancer: Emerging Therapeutic Strategies and Pathway Regulation

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a key regulator for balancing oxygen in the cells. It is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of target genes involved in oxygen homeostasis in response to hypoxia. Recently, research has demonstrated the multiple roles of HIF-1 in the pathophysiology of various diseases, including cancer. It is a crucial mediator of the hypoxic response and regulator of oxygen metabolism, thus contributing to tumor development and progression. Studies showed that the expression of the HIF-1α subunit is significantly upregulated in cancer cells and promotes tumor survival by multiple mechanisms. In addition, HIF-1 has potential contributing roles in cancer progression, including cell division, survival, proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Moreover, HIF-1 has a role in regulating cellular metabolic pathways, particularly the anaerobic metabolism of glucose. Given its significant and potential roles in cancer development and progression, it has been an intriguing therapeutic target for cancer research. Several compounds targeting HIF-1-associated processes are now being used to treat different types of cancer. This review outlines emerging therapeutic strategies that target HIF-1 as well as the relevance and regulation of the HIF-1 pathways in cancer. Moreover, it addresses the employment of nanotechnology in developing these promising strategies.

Enhancing the stability, BBB permeability and neuroprotective activity of verbascoside in vitro using lipid nanocapsules in combination with menthol

Verbascoside (VER) shows promising neuroprotective activity. However, the instability and low permeability in crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) greatly hinder its application. In the present study, verbascoside was encapsulated into lipid nanocapsules (LNC) by reverse micelle (RM) to increase its stability. Besides, we used VER-RM-LNC combined with an envoy drug, menthol, to improve its BBB permeability and neuroprotective activity. VER-RM-LNC was prepared by the phase inversion temperature method, resulting in an encapsulation efficiency of nearly 85 %. The formulated VER-RM-LNC was stable for 6 months at 4 °C. VER encapsulated into LNC possessed enhanced stability and a reduced release profile. Menthol increased the cellular uptake and the permeability of VER-RM-LNC in the BBB model in vitro. In addition, the improved neuroprotective activity of VER through incubation with menthol and VER-RM-LNC was verified in the neurotoxic human brain microvascular endothelial cells model induced by Aβ_25-35.

Targeting hypoxia-inducible factors for breast cancer therapy: A narrative review

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), central regulators for cells to adapt to low cellular oxygen levels, are often overexpressed and activated in breast cancer. HIFs modulate the primary transcriptional response of downstream pathways and target genes in response to hypoxia, including glycolysis, angiogenesis and metastasis. They can promote the development of breast cancer and are associated with poor prognosis of breast cancer patients by regulating cancer processes closely related to tumor invasion, metastasis and drug resistance. Thus, specific targeting of HIFs may improve the efficiency of cancer therapy. In this review, we summarize the advances in HIF-related molecular mechanisms and clinical and preclinical studies of drugs targeting HIFs in breast cancer. Given the rapid progression in this field and nanotechnology, drug delivery systems (DDSs) for HIF targeting are increasingly being developed. Therefore, we highlight the HIF related DDS, including liposomes, polymers, metal-based or carbon-based nanoparticles.

Biocompatible Nanocapsules for Self-Healing Dental Resins and Bone Cements

Bone cements and dental resins are methacrylate-based materials that have been in use for many years, but their failure rates are quite high with essentially all dental resins failing within 10 years and 25% of all prosthetic implants will undergo aseptic loosening. There are significant healthcare costs and impacts on quality of life of patients. Self-healing bone cements and resins could improve the lifespan of these systems, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes, but they have been limited by efficacy and toxicity of the components. To address these issues, we developed a self-healing system based on a dual nanocapsule system. Two nanocapsules were synthesized, one containing an initiator and one encapsulating a monomer, both in polyurethane shells. The monomer used was triethylene glycol dimethacrylate. The initiator capsules synthesized contained benzoyl peroxide and butylated hydroxytoluene. Resins containing the nanocapsules were tested in tension until failure, and the fractured surfaces were placed together. 33% of the samples showed self-healing behaviors to the point where they could be reloaded and tested in tension. Furthermore, the capsules and their components showed good biocompatibility with Caco-2 cells, a human epithelial cell line suggesting that they would be well tolerated in vivo.

Acriflavine, an Acridine Derivative for Biomedical Application: Current State of the Art

Acriflavine (ACF) has been known for years as an antibacterial drug. The identification of key oncogenic mechanisms has brought, in recent years, a significant increase in studies on ACF as a multipurpose drug that would improve the prognosis for cancer patients. ACF interferes with the expression of the hypoxia inducible factor, thus acting on metastatic niches of tumors and significantly enhancing the effects of other anticancer therapies. It has been recognized as the most potent HIF-1 inhibitor out of the 336 drugs approved by the FDA. This work presents up-to-date knowledge about the mechanisms of action of ACF and its related prodrug systems in the context of anticancer and SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory properties. It explains the multitask nature of this drug and suggests mechanisms of ACF’s action on the coronavirus. Other recent reports on ACF-based systems as potential antibacterial and antiviral drugs are also described.

Nanomedicines for Overcoming Cancer Drug Resistance

Clinically, cancer drug resistance to chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy remains the main impediment towards curative cancer therapy, which leads directly to treatment failure along with extended hospital stays, increased medical costs and high mortality. Therefore, increasing attention has been paid to nanotechnology-based delivery systems for overcoming drug resistance in cancer. In this respect, novel tumor-targeting nanomedicines offer fairly effective therapeutic strategies for surmounting the various limitations of chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, enabling more precise cancer treatment, more convenient monitoring of treatment agents, as well as surmounting cancer drug resistance, including multidrug resistance (MDR). Nanotechnology-based delivery systems, including liposomes, polymer micelles, nanoparticles (NPs), and DNA nanostructures, enable a large number of properly designed therapeutic nanomedicines. In this paper, we review the different mechanisms of cancer drug resistance to chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, and discuss the latest developments in nanomedicines for overcoming cancer drug resistance.

Applications of lipid-engineered nanoplatforms in the delivery of various cancer therapeutics to surmount breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most extensively accounted malignancy among the women across the globe and is treatable in 70-80% of patients with early-stage, non-metastatic cancer. The current available therapies have been found to be less effective to treat distant organ metastases and advanced breast cancers. The clinical efficacy hugely suffers from chemoresistance, non-specific toxicity, relapse and other associated adverse effects. Furthermore, lack of controlled delivery and effective temporospatial presence of chemotherapeutics has resulted in suboptimal therapeutic response. Nanotechnology based approaches have been widely used over the period as they are nanometric, offer controlled and site-specific drug release along with reduced toxicity, improved half-life, and stability. Lipid-based nanoplatforms have grabbed a tremendous attention for delivering cancer therapeutics as they are cost-effective, scalable and provide better entrapment efficiency. In this review, all the promising applications of lipid-engineered nanotechnological tools for breast cancer will be summarized and discussed. Subsequently, BC therapy achieved with the aid of chemotherapeutics, phytomedicine, genes, peptides, photosensitizers, diagnostic and immunogenic agents etc. will be reviewed and discussed. This review gives tabular information on all the results obtained pertaining to the physicochemical properties of the lipidic nanocarrier, in vitro studies conferring to mechanistic drug release profile, cell viability, cellular apoptosis and in vivo studies referring to cellular internalisation, reduction of tumor volume, PK-PD profile, bioavailability achieved and anti-tumor activity in detail. It also gives complete information on the most relevant clinical trials done on lipidic nanoplatforms over two decades in tabular form. The review highlights the current status and future prospects of lipidic nanoplatforms with streamlined focus on cancer nanotherapeutics.

The Role of Imaging Biomarkers to Guide Pharmacological Interventions Targeting Tumor Hypoxia

Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors that contributes to angiogenesis, invasiveness, metastasis, altered metabolism and genomic instability. As hypoxia is a major actor in tumor progression and resistance to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, multiple approaches have emerged to target tumor hypoxia. It includes among others pharmacological interventions designed to alleviate tumor hypoxia at the time of radiation therapy, prodrugs that are selectively activated in hypoxic cells or inhibitors of molecular targets involved in hypoxic cell survival (i.e., hypoxia inducible factors HIFs, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, unfolded protein response). While numerous strategies were successful in pre-clinical models, their translation in the clinical practice has been disappointing so far. This therapeutic failure often results from the absence of appropriate stratification of patients that could benefit from targeted interventions. Companion diagnostics may help at different levels of the research and development, and in matching a patient to a specific intervention targeting hypoxia. In this review, we discuss the relative merits of the existing hypoxia biomarkers, their current status and the challenges for their future validation as companion diagnostics adapted to the nature of the intervention.

Switching indication of PEGylated lipid nanocapsules-loaded with rolapitant and deferasirox against breast cancer: Enhanced in-vitro and in-vivo cytotoxicity

Breast cancer (BC) is considered the leading cause of mortality and morbidity among adult women worldwide, and it is associated with many genetic or hormonal factors. Despite the advanced therapeutic and theranostic strategies for BC treatment, cancer metastasis and relapse are often observed among patients which lead to therapeutic failure. Accordingly, among the repositioned medication against BC proliferation is neurokinin receptor antagonists and iron chelating agents especially rolapitant HCl (RP) and deferasirox (DFO). However, RP and DFO are classified as class II with low aqueous solubility. Both drugs were nanoformulated into PEGylated lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) for enhancing their aqueous solubility and augmenting their efficacy. RP-LNCs, DFO-LNCs and their combinations were evaluated according to particle size (PS), zeta potential, polydispersity index (PDI) and surface morphology. Importantly, the antitumor effect of these novel molecules and their nanoforms was evaluated against the suppression of Ehrlich Ascites tumor model using female mice. Results revealed that RP-LNCs, DFO-LNCs and RP/DFO-LNCs exerted PS from 45.23 ± 3.54 to 60.1 ± 3.32 nm with PDI around 0.20 which indicates homogenous particles distribution. Also, RP-LNCs, DFO-LNCs and RP/DFO-LNCs displayed surface charges of +16.6 ± 6.9, -13.3 ± 5.82 and - 20.2 ± 5.40 mV, respectively. The obtained LNCs conferred a high potent cytotoxic effect against MCF7 cancer cells as compared to parent drugs, with IC₅₀ of 10.86 ± 0.89, 3.34 ± 0.99 and 2.24 ± 0.97 μg/mL for RP-LNCs, DFO-LNCs and RP/DFO-LNCs, respectively. The in-vivo pharmacodynamics effect of the developed nano-formulations showed superior antitumor effect for the individual drugs rather than their combinations as compared to the control group. The current study confirmed the potential of RP and DFO nanoforms as promising therapeutic agents for BC treatment.

Engineering nanomedicines to inhibit hypoxia-inducible Factor-1 for cancer therapy

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), an essential promoter of tumor progression, has attracted increasing attention as a therapeutic target. In addition to hypoxic cellular conditions, HIF-1 activation can be triggered by cancer treatment, which causes drug tolerance and therapeutic failure. To date, a series of effective strategies have been explored to suppress HIF-1 function, including silencing the HIF-1α gene, inhibiting HIF-1α protein translation, degrading HIF-1α protein, and inhibiting HIF-1 transcription. Furthermore, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have been widely developed to improve the stability and pharmacokinetics of HIF-1 inhibitors or achieve HIF-1-targeted combination therapies as a nanoplatform. In this review, we summarize the current literature on nanomedicines targeting HIF-1 to combat cancer and discuss their potential for future development.

Colorectal cancer inhibition by BET inhibitor JQ1 is MYC-independent and not improved by nanoencapsulation

Bromodomain and extraterminal domain protein inhibitors (BETi) for cancer treatment did not convince during their first clinical trials. Their epigenetic mechanism of action is still not well understood, even if MYC is generally considered as its main downstream target. In this context, we intended to assess two new nanoformulations of the BETi JQ1 for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). JQ1 was encapsulated at 10 mg/mL in lipid nanocapsules (LNC) or polymeric micelles (PM), both compatible for an intravenous administration. Their effect was compared with free JQ1 on several CRC cell lines in vitro and with daily intraperitoneal cyclodextrin (CD)-loaded JQ1 on the CT26 CRC tumor model in vivo. We showed that LNC preferentially accumulated in tumor, liver, and lymph nodes. LNC-JQ1 and CD-JQ1 similarly delayed tumor growth and increased median survival from 15 to 23 or 20.5 days. JQ1 altered MYC in only two among four CRC cell lines. This MYC-independence found in CT26 was confirmed in vivo by PCR and immunohistochemistry. The main explanation of the JQ1 anticancer effect was an increase in apoptosis. The investigation of its impact on the tumor microenvironment did not show significant effects. Finally, JQ1 association with irinotecan did not synergize in vivo with JQ1 nanoformulations. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the JQ1 anticancer effect was not improved by nanoencapsulation even if their tumor delivery was probably higher. MYC inhibition was not associated to JQ1 efficacy in the case of the CT26 CRC murine model.

Modulating hypoxia inducible factor-1 by nanomaterials for effective cancer therapy

Hypoxia, which is induced by abnormal tumor growth when it outstrips its oxygen supply, is a major character of cancer. The reaction of cells against hypoxia is mainly concentrated on the hypoxia-induced transcription factors (HIFs), especially HIF-1, which remain stabilized during hypoxia. Additionally, the oxygen-independent mechanism of regulating HIF-1 acts a vital part in different stages of tumor progression as well as chemo-/radio-/PDT resistance, resulting in poor curative effects and prognosis. In this review, we will outline the up-to-date information about how HIF-1 interferes with tumor metastasis and therapy resistance, followed by a detailed introduction of motivating techniques based on various nanomaterials to interfere with HIF signaling for effective cancer therapy. This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease.

Polymeric nanocapsules: A review on design and production methods for pharmaceutical purpose

Polymeric nanocapsules have extensive application potential in medical, biological, and pharmaceutical fields, and, therefore, much research has been dedicated to their production. Indeed, production protocols and the materials used are decisive for obtaining the desired nanocapsules characteristics and biological performance. In addition to that, several technological strategies have been developed in the last decade to improve processing techniques and form more valuable nanocapsules. This review provides a guide to current methods for developing polymeric nanocapsules, reporting aspects to be considered when choosing appropriate materials, and discussing different ways to produce nanocapsules for superior performances.

Anti-cancer potential of some commonly used drugs

Cancer is a global concern leading to millions of deaths every year. A declining trend in new drug discovery and development is becoming one of the major issues among the pharmaceutical, biotechnology industries, and regulatory agencies. New drug development is proven to be a very lengthy and costly process. The launch of a new drug takes 8-12 years and huge investments. The success rate in oncology therapeutics is also low due to toxicities at the pre-clinical and clinical trial levels. Many oncological drugs get rejected at a very promising stage, showing adverse reactions on healthy cells. Thus, exploring new therapeutic benefits of the existing, shelved drugs for their anti-cancerous action could result in a therapeutic approach preventing the toxicities which occur during clinical trials. Drug repurposing has the potential to overcome the challenges faced via conventional way of drug discovery and is becoming an area of interest for researchers and scientists. However, very few in vivo studies are conducted to prove the anti-cancerous activity of the drugs. Insufficient in vivo animal studies and a lack of human clinical trials are the lacunae in the field of drug repurposing. This review focuses on an aspect of drug repurposing for cancer therapeutics. Various studies that show that drugs approved for clinical indications other than cancer have shown promising anti-cancer activities. Some of the commonly used drugs like Benzodiazepines (Diazepam, Midzolam), Antidepressants (Imipramine, Clomipramine, and Citalopram), Antiepileptic (Valporic acid, Phenytoin), Antidiabetics (metformin), etc. have been reported to show potential activity against the cancerous cells.

Structural characterization and theoretical calculations of the monohydrate of the 1:2 cocrystal salt formed from acriflavine and 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid

The synthesis and structural characterization of the monohydrated 1:2 cocrystal salt of acriflavine with 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid [systematic name: 3,6-diamino-10-methylacridin-10-ium 3,5-dinitrobenzoate-3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid-water (1/1/1), C₁₄H₁₄N₃⁺·C₇H₃N₂O₆^-·C₇H₄N₂O₆·H₂O] are reported. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements show that the title solvated monohydrate salt crystalizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁ with one acriflavine cation, a 3,5-dinitrobenzoate anion, a 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid molecule and a water molecule in the asymmetric unit. The neutral and anionic forms of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid are linked via O-H...O hydrogen bonds to form a monoanionic dimer. Neighbouring monoanionic dimers of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid are linked by nitro-nitro N-O...N and nitro-acid N-O...π intermolecular interactions to produce a porous organic framework. The acriflavine cations are linked with carboxylic acid molecules directly via amine-carboxy N-H...O, amine-nitro N-H...O and acriflavine-carboxy C-H...O hydrogen bonds, and carboxy-acriflavine C-O...π, nitro-acriflavine N-O...π and acriflavine-nitro π-π interactions, or through the water molecule by amino-water N-H...O and water-carboxy O-H...O hydrogen bonds, and are located in the voids of the porous organic framework. The intermolecular interactions were studied using the CrystalExplorer program to provide information about the interaction energies and the dispersion, electrostatic, polarization and repulsion contributions to the lattice energy.

Exciting Potential of Nanoparticlized Lipidic System for Effective Treatment of Breast Cancer and Clinical Updates: A Translational Prospective

Breast cancer (BC) is a multifactorial disease and becoming a major health issue in women throughout the globe. BC is a malignant type of cancer which results from transcriptional changes in proteins and genes. Besides the availability of modern medicines and detection tools, BC has become a topmost deadly disease and its cure still remains challenging. Nanotechnology based approaches are being employed for the diagnosis and treatment of BC at clinical stages. Nanosystems have a significant role in the study of the interaction of malignant cells with their microenvironment through receptor-based targeted approach. Nowadays, lipid-based nanocarriers are being popularized in the domain of pharmaceutical and medical biology for cancer therapy. Lipidic nanoparticlized systems (LNPs) have proven to have high loading efficiency, less toxicity, improved therapeutic efficacy, enhanced bioavailability and stability of the bioactive compounds compared to traditional drug delivery systems. In the present context, several LNPs based formulations have been undertaken in various phases of clinical trials in different countries. This review highlights the importance of chemotherapeutics based lipidic nanocarriers and their anticipated use for the treatment of BC. Furthermore, the clinical trials and future prospective of LNPs have been widely elaborated.

Lipid-based Nanoplatforms in Cancer Therapy: Recent Advances and Applications

Though modern available cancer therapies are effective, they possess major adverse effects, causing non-compliance to patients. Furthermore, the majority of the polymeric-based medication platforms are certainly not universally acceptable, due to their several restrictions. With this juxtaposition, lipid-based medication delivery systems have appeared as promising drug nanocarriers to replace the majority of the polymer-based products because they are in a position to reverse polymer as well as, drug-associated restrictions. Furthermore, the amalgamation of the basic principle of nanotechnology in designing lipid nanocarriers, which are the latest form of lipid carriers, has tremendous chemotherapeutic possibilities as tumor-targeted drug-delivery pertaining to tumor therapy. Apart from this, it is reported that nearly 40% of the modern medication entities are lipophilic. Moreover, research continues to be efficient in attaining a significant understanding of the absorption and bioavailability of the developed lipids systems.

Impact of Reverse Micelle Loaded Lipid Nanocapsules on the Delivery of Gallic Acid into Activated Hepatic Stellate Cells: A Promising Therapeutic Approach for Hepatic Fibrosis

PURPOSE

Gallic acid (GA) is a polyphenolic compound with proven efficacy against hepatic fibrosis in experimental animals. However, it suffers from poor bioavailability and rapid clearance that hinders its clinical investigation. Accordingly, we designed and optimized reverse micelle-loaded lipid nanocapsules (RMLNC) using Box-Behnken design that can deliver GA directly into activated-hepatic stellate cells (aHSCs) aiming to suppress hepatic fibrosis progression.

METHODS

GA-RMLNC was prepared using soft energy, solvent free phase inversion temperature method. Effects of formulation variables on particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (EE%) and GA release were studied. In-vivo biodistribution of GA-RMLNC in rats and in-vitro activities on aHSCs were also explored.

RESULTS

Nano-sized GA-RMLNCs (30.35 ± 2.34 nm) were formulated with high GA-EE% (63.95 ± 2.98% w/w) and physical stability (9 months). The formulated system showed burst GA release in the first 2 h followed by sustained release profile. In-vivo biodistribution imaging revealed that RMLNC-loaded with rhodamine-B accumulated mainly in rats' livers. Relative to GA; GA-RMLNC displayed higher anti-proliferative activities, effective internalization into aHSCs, marked down-regulation in pro-fibrogenic biomarkers' expressions and elevated HSCs' apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings emphasize the promising application of RMLNC as a delivery system in hepatic fibrosis treatment, where successful delivery of GA into aHSCs was ensured via increased cellular uptake and antifibrotic activities.

Enhanced oral bioavailability of Tanshinone IIA using lipid nanocapsules: Formulation, in-vitro appraisal and pharmacokinetics

Tanshinone IIA (TSIIA) is a promising phytomedicine that has been extensively studied due to its numerous biological activities, especially as an anticancer drug. However, it suffers from poor oral bioavailability owing to low aqueous solubility, poor permeability and exposure to first-pass metabolism. This study endeavored to improve TSIIA oral bioavailability by encapsulation into lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) for the first time. A previously reported phase-inversion method was used to prepare Tanshinone II A loaded LNCs (TSIIA-LNCs) with slight modifications based on a constructed phase diagram. They were then in-vitro characterized and their oral pharmacokinetics were studied in rats. TSIIA-LNCs showed excellent colloidal properties (size; 70 nm, PDI < 0.2 and zeta-potential; -13.5 mV), a high percent entrapment efficiency (98%) and a good drug payload (2.6 mg/g). Furthermore, the in-vivo pharmacokinetic study revealed a significant enhancement in both the rate and extent of absorption of TSIIA-LNCs compared with TSIIA suspension with about 3.6-fold increase in AUC _0-inf value (p ≤ 0.01). Additionally, a significant increase in both half-life and mean residence time was exhibited by TSIIA-LNCs (p ≤ 0.01), confirming their long circulating properties. Therefore, the elaborated LNCs could be addressed as a promising nanoplatform permitting higher TSIIA oral bioavailability.

Current developments in nanotechnology for improved cancer treatment, focusing on tumor hypoxia

Hypoxia is a common feature of the tumor microenvironment, which is characterized by tissue oxygen deficiency due to an aggressive proliferation of cancer cells. Hypoxia activates hypoxia-inducible factor-dependent signaling, which in turn regulates metabolic reprogramming, immune suppression, resistance to apoptosis, angiogenesis, metastasis, and invasion to secondary sites. In this review, we provide an overview of the use of nanotechnology to harmonize intra-tumoral oxygen or suppress hypoxia-related signaling for an improved efficacy of cancer treatment. The biological background was followed by conducting a literature review on the (1) nanoparticles responsible for enhancing oxygen levels within the tumor, (2) nanoparticles sensitizing hypoxia, (3) nanoparticles suppressing hypoxia-inducing factor, (4) nanoparticles that relieve tumor hypoxia for enhancement of chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and immunotherapy, either individually or in combination. Lastly, the heterogeneity of cancer and limitations of nanotechnology are discussed to facilitate translational therapeutic treatment.

Inhibition of colorectal cancer-associated fibroblasts by lipid nanocapsules loaded with acriflavine or paclitaxel

Crosstalk between cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and colorectal cancer cells promotes tumor growth and contributes to chemoresistance. In this study, we assessed the sensitivity of a primary CAF cell line, CT5.3hTERT, to standard-of-care and alternative cytotoxic treatments. Paclitaxel (PTX) and acriflavine (ACF) were identified as the most promising molecules to inhibit CAF development. To allow the translational use of both drugs, we developed lipid nanocapsule (LNC) formulations for PTX and ACF. Finally, we mixed CAFs and tumor cell lines in a cocultured spheroid, and the effect of both drugs was investigated by histological analyses. We demonstrated CAF inhibition by LNC-ACF and whole tumor inhibition by LNC-PTX. Altogether, we proposed a new strategy to reduce CAF populations in the colorectal microenvironment that should be tested in vivo.