Dual drug loaded polypeptide delivery systems for cancer therapy

The present study was aimed to prepare and examine in vitro novel dual-drug loaded delivery systems. Biodegradable nanoparticles based on poly(L-glutamic acid-co-D-phenylalanine) were used as nanocarriers for encapsulation of two drugs from the paclitaxel, irinotecan, and doxorubicin series. The developed delivery systems were characterised with hydrodynamic diameters less than 300 nm (PDI < 0.3). High encapsulation efficiencies (≥75%) were achieved for all single- and dual-drug formulations. The release studies showed faster release at acidic pH, with the release rate decreasing over time. The release patterns of the co-encapsulated forms of substances differed from those of the separately encapsulated drugs, suggesting differences in drug-polymer interactions. The joint action of encapsulated drugs was analysed using the colon cancer cells, both for the dual-drug delivery sytems and a mixture of single-drug formulations. The encapsulated forms of the drug combinations demonstrated comparable efficacy to the free forms, with the encapsulation enhancing solubility of the hydrophobic drug paclitaxel.

Antifungal and Immunomodulatory Ingredients from Traditional Chinese Medicine

Fungal infections have become a growing public health challenge due to the clinical transmission of pathogenic fungi. The currently available antifungal drugs leave very limited choices for clinical physicians to deal with such situation, not to mention the long-standing problems of emerging drug resistance, side effects and heavy economic burdens imposed to patients. Therefore, new antifungal drugs are urgently needed. Screening drugs from natural products and using synthetic biology strategies are very promising for antifungal drug development. Chinese medicine is a vast library of natural products of biologically active molecules. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, preparations used to treat fungal diseases usually have antifungal and immunomodulatory functions. This suggests that if antifungal drugs are used in combination with immunomodulatory drugs, better results may be achieved. Studies have shown that the active components of TCM have strong antifungal or immunomodulatory effects and have broad application prospects. In this paper, the latest research progress of antifungal and immunomodulatory components of TCM is reviewed and discussed, hoping to provide inspiration for the design of novel antifungal compounds and to open up new horizons for antifungal treatment strategies.

Epigallocatechin gallate in combination with eugenol or amarogentin shows synergistic chemotherapeutic potential in cervical cancer cell line

In this study, antitumor activity of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG; major component of green tea polyphenol), eugenol (active component of clove), and amarogentin (active component of chirata plant) either alone or in combination were evaluated in Hela cell line. It was evident that EGCG with eugenol-amrogentin could highly inhibit the cellular proliferation and colony formation than individual treatments. Induction of apoptosis was also higher after treatment with EGCG in combination with eugenol-amrogentin than individual compound treatments. The antiproliferative effect of these compounds was due to downregulation of cyclinD1 and upregulation of cell cycle inhibitors LIMD1, RBSP3, and p16 at G1/S phase of cell cycle. Treatment of these compounds could induce promoter hypomethylation of LimD1 and P16 genes as a result of reduced expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). Thus, our study indicated the better chemotherapeutic effect of EGCG in combination with eugenol-amarogentin in Hela cell line. The chemotherapeutic effect might be due to the epigenetic modification particularly DNA hypomethylation through downregulation of DNMT1.