Cell selective BCL-2 inhibition enabled by lipid nanoparticles alleviates lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating lung disease with a high mortality rate due to limited treatment options. Current therapies cannot effectively reverse the damage caused by IPF. Research suggests that promoting programmed cell death (apoptosis) in myofibroblasts, the key cells driving fibrosis, could be a promising strategy. However, inducing apoptosis in healthy cells like epithelial and endothelial cells can cause unwanted side effects. This project addresses this challenge by developing a targeted approach to induce apoptosis specifically in myofibroblasts. We designed liposomes (LPS) decorated with peptides that recognize VCAM-1, a protein highly expressed on myofibroblasts in fibrotic lungs. These VCAM1-targeted LPS encapsulate Venetoclax (VNT), a small molecule drug that inhibits BCL-2, an anti-apoptotic protein. By delivering VNT directly to myofibroblasts, we hypothesize that VCAM1-VNT-LPS can selectively induce apoptosis in these cells, leading to reduced fibrosis and improved lung function. We successfully characterized VCAM1-VNT-LPS for size, surface charge, and drug loading efficiency. Additionally, we evaluated their stability over three months at different temperatures. In vitro and in vivo studies using a bleomycin-induced mouse model of lung fibrosis demonstrated the therapeutic potential of VCAM1-VNT-LPS. These studies showed a reduction in fibrosis-associated proteins (collagen, α-SMA, VCAM1) and BCL-2, while simultaneously increasing apoptosis in myofibroblasts. These findings suggest that VCAM1-targeted delivery of BCL-2 inhibitors using liposomes presents a promising and potentially selective therapeutic approach for IPF.

Cadherin-11 targeted cell-specific liposomes enabled skin fibrosis treatment by inducing apoptosis

Continuous and aberrant activation of myofibroblasts is the hallmark of pathological fibrosis (e.g., abnormal wound healing). The deposition of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) components alters or increases the stiffness of tissue and primarily accounts for multiple organ dysfunctions. Among various proteins, Cadherin-11 (CDH11) has been reported to be overexpressed on myofibroblasts in fibrotic tissues. Anti-apoptotic proteins such as (B cell lymphoma-2) (BCL-2) are also upregulated on myofibroblasts. Therefore, we hypothesize that CDH11 could be a targeted domain for cell-specific drug delivery and targeted inhibition of BCL-2 to ameliorate the development of fibrosis in the skin. To prove our hypothesis, we have developed liposomes (LPS) conjugated with CDH11 neutralizing antibody (antiCDH11) to target cell surface CDH11 and loaded these LPS with a BCL-2 inhibitor, Navitoclax (NAVI), to induce apoptosis of CDH11 expressing fibroblasts. The developed LPS were evaluated for physicochemical characterization, stability, in vitro therapeutic efficacy using dermal fibroblasts, and in vivo therapeutic efficacy in bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis model in mice. The findings from in vitro and in vivo studies confirmed that selectivity of LPS was improved towards CDH11 expressing myofibroblasts, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy with no indication of adverse effects. Hence, this novel research work represents a versatile LPS strategy that exhibits promising potential for treating skin fibrosis.

Mucoadhesive Carrier-Mediated Oral Co-delivery of Bcl2 Inhibitors Improves Gastric Cancer Treatment

Gastric cancer treatment is challenging due to the lack of early-stage diagnostic technology and targeted delivery systems. Currently, the available treatments for gastric cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation. These strategies are either invasive or require systemic delivery, exerting toxicities within healthy tissues. By creation of a targeted delivery system to the stomach, gastric cancer can be treated in the early stages. Such an approach reduces the negative effects on the rest of the body by minimizing systemic absorbance and random localization. With this in mind, we developed a mucoadhesive vehicle composed of β-Glucan And Docosahexaenoic Acid (GADA) for controlled drug/gene delivery. In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of codelivery Bcl2 inhibitors navitoclax (NAVI) and siRNA (Bcl2) via oral using GADA. The therapeutic efficacy of the GADA-mediated oral NAVI/siRNA was investigated in a gastric cancer mouse model. Higher Bcl2 inhibition efficacy was observed in Western blotting and TUNEL assay in mice treated with GADA/NAVI/siRNA compared to free NAVI, siRNA, and NAVI/siRNA. Histology (H&E) and immunohistochemistry (Ki67, TUNEL, and BCl2) analyses confirmed a significant reduction of the tumor region. Interaction between GADA and mucus resulted in retention for over 6 h and thereby sustained local payload release. The developed oral carrier GADA is an emerging vehicle that has promising potential in oral delivery of both small and large molecules, and their mucoadhesive property results in improved therapeutic efficacy with minimal side effects compared to conventional treatment. This study opens a new window for the effective delivery of oral medicine for the treatment of gastric cancer and other gastrointestinal diseases.

Emerging delivery approaches for targeted pulmonary fibrosis treatment

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a progressive, and life-threatening interstitial lung disease which causes scarring in the lung parenchyma and thereby affects architecture and functioning of lung. It is an irreversible damage to lung functioning which is related to epithelial cell injury, immense accumulation of immune cells and inflammatory cytokines, and irregular recruitment of extracellular matrix. The inflammatory cytokines trigger the differentiation of fibroblasts into activated fibroblasts, also known as myofibroblasts, which further increase the production and deposition of collagen at the injury sites in the lung. Despite the significant morbidity and mortality associated with PF, there is no available treatment that efficiently and effectively treats the disease by reversing their underlying pathologies. In recent years, many therapeutic regimens, for instance, rho kinase inhibitors, Smad signaling pathway inhibitors, p38, BCL-xL/ BCL-2 and JNK pathway inhibitors, have been found to be potent and effective in treating PF, in preclinical stages. However, due to non-selectivity and non-specificity, the therapeutic molecules also result in toxicity mediated severe side effects. Hence, this review demonstrates recent advances on PF pathology, mechanism and targets related to PF, development of various drug delivery systems based on small molecules, RNAs, oligonucleotides, peptides, antibodies, exosomes, and stem cells for the treatment of PF and the progress of various therapeutic treatments in clinical trials to advance PF treatment.

A photothermal driven chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma

Solid tumors are abnormal mass of tissue, which affects the organs based on its malignancy and leads to the dysfunction of the affected organs. The major problem associated with treatment of solid tumors is delivering anticancer therapeutics to the deepest layers/core of the solid tumor. Deposition of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) hinders the therapeutics to travel towards the core of the tumor. Therefore, conventional anticancer therapeutics can only reduce the tumor size and that also for a limited duration, and tumor recurrence occurs once the therapy is discontinued. Additionally, by the time the cancer is diagnosed, the cancer cells already started affecting the major organs of the body such as lung, liver, spleen, kidney, and brain, due to their ability to metastasize and lung is the primary site for them to be infiltrated. To facilitate the anticancer therapeutics to penetrate the deeper layers of tumor, and to provide concurrent treatment of both the solid tumor and metastasis, we have designed and developed a Bimodal Light Assisted Skin Tumor and Metastasis Treatment (BLAST), which is a combination of photothermal and chemotherapeutic moieties. The BLAST is composed of 2D boron nitride (BN) nanosheet with adsorbed molecules of BCL-2 inhibitor, Navitoclax (NAVI) on its surface, that can breakdown excessive ECM network and thereby facilitate dissociation of the solid tumor. The developed BLAST was evaluated for its ability to penetrate solid tumors using 3D spheroids for the uptake, cytotoxicity, growth inhibition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, penetration, and downregulation of proteins upon laser irradiation. The in vivo therapeutic studies on a skin cancer mice model revealed that the BLAST with and without laser were able to penetrate the solid tumor, reduce tumor volume in mice, dissociate the protein network, and prevent lung metastasis as confirmed by immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Post analysis of serum and blood components revealed the safety and efficacy of BLAST in mice. Hence, the developed BLAST holds strong promise in solid tumor treatment and metastasis prevention simultaneously.

β-Glucan and Fatty Acid Based Mucoadhesive Carrier for Gastrointestinal Tract Specific Local and Sustained Drug Delivery

The oral route is considered the most convenient route of drug administration for both systemic and local delivery. Besides stability and transportation, another unmet but important issue regarding oral medication is retention duration within the specific region of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We hypothesize that an oral vehicle that can adhere and maintain retention within the stomach for a longer duration can be more effective to treat stomach-related diseases. Therefore, in this project, we developed a carrier that is highly specific to the stomach and maintains its retention for a longer duration. We developed a vehicle composed of β-Glucan And Docosahexaenoic Acid (GADA) to observe its affinity and specificity to the stomach. GADA forms a spherical-shaped particle with negative zeta potential values that vary based on the feed ratio of docosahexaenoic acid. Docosahexaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid that has transporters and receptors throughout the GI tract, such as CD36, plasma membrane-associated fatty acid-binding protein (FABP (pm)), and a family of fatty acid transport proteins (FATP1-6). The in vitro studies and characterization data showed that GADA has the capability to carry a payload of hydrophobic molecules and specifically deliver the payload to the GI tract, exert its therapeutic effects, and help to maintain stability for more than 12 h in the gastric and intestinal fluid. The particle size and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) data showed that GADA has a strong binding affinity with mucin in the presence of simulated gastric fluids. We observed a comparatively higher drug release of lidocaine in gastric juice than that in intestinal fluids, demonstrating the influence of the pH values of the media on drug-release kinetics. In vivo and ex vivo imaging of mice demonstrated that GADA maintains its retention within the stomach for at least 4 hr. This stomach-specific oral vehicle holds strong promise to translate various injectable therapeutic drugs to oral form upon further optimizations.

Potential and Progress of 2D Materials in Photomedicine for Cancer Treatment

Over the last decades, photomedicine has made a significant impact and progress in treating superficial cancer. With tremendous efforts many of the technologies have entered clinical trials. Photothermal agents (PTAs) have been considered as emerging candidates for accelerating the outcome from photomedicine based cancer treatment. Besides various inorganic and organic candidates, 2D materials such as graphene, boron nitride, and molybdenum disulfide have shown significant potential for photothermal therapy (PTT). The properties such as high surface area to volume, biocompatibility, stability in physiological media, ease of synthesis and functionalization, and high photothermal conversion efficiency have made 2D nanomaterials wonderful candidates for PTT to treat cancer. The targeting or localized activation could be achieved when PTT is combined with chemotherapies, immunotherapies, or photodynamic therapy (PDT) to provide better outcomes with fewer side effects. Though significant development has been made in the field of phototherapeutic drugs, several challenges have restricted the use of PTT in clinical use and hence they have not yet been tested in large clinical trials. In this review, we attempted to discuss the progress, properties, applications, and challenges of 2D materials in the field of PTT and their application in photomedicine.

Myofibroblast specific targeting approaches to improve fibrosis treatment

Fibrosis has been shown to develop in individuals with underlying health conditions, especially chronic inflammatory diseases. Fibrosis is often diagnosed in various organs, including the liver, lungs, kidneys, heart, and skin, and has been described as excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix that can affect specific organs in the body or systemically throughout the body. Fibrosis as a chronic condition can result in organ failure and result in death of the individual. Understanding and identification of specific biomarkers associated with fibrosis has emerging potential in the development of diagnosis and targeting treatment modalities. Therefore, in this review, we will discuss multiple signaling pathways such as TGF-β, collagen, angiotensin, and cadherin and outline the chemical nature of the different signaling pathways involved in fibrogenesis as well as the mechanisms. Although it has been well established that TGF-β is the main catalyst initiating and driving multiple pathways for fibrosis, targeting TGF-β can be challenging as this molecule regulates essential functions throughout the body that help to keep the body in homeostasis. We also discuss collagen, angiotensin, and cadherins and their role in fibrosis. We comprehensively discuss the various delivery systems used to target collagen, angiotensin, and cadherins to manage fibrosis. Nevertheless, understanding the steps by which this molecule drives fibrosis development can aid in the development of specific targets of its cascading mechanism. Throughout the review, we will demonstrate the mechanism of fibrosis targeting to improve targeting delivery and therapy.