Article
Biophysics
Jingmou Yu, Liangliang Wang, Yun Ling, Xin Xiao, Juntao Gong, Hongguang Jin, Jing Xu, Pu Chen, Xin Xie, Lei Zhang
Summary: In this study, novel polymeric nanoparticles targeting dual receptors and responding to reducing conditions for drug release were developed for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. The bioresponsive drug release of the nanoparticles was demonstrated, and it was found that they effectively targeted specific receptors both in vitro and in vivo. The nanoparticles showed higher cytotoxicity and cellular uptake compared to unmodified drug-containing micelles, and they exhibited the strongest suppression of tumor growth in a mouse model. These findings suggest that amphiphilic nanoparticles can serve as a targeted and intelligent delivery vehicle for triple-negative breast cancer therapy.
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Won Jung Kim, Eu Hyun Lee, Yong-Jin Kwon, Sang-Kyu Ye, Kyu Oh Kim
Summary: An amphipathic PAA-POSS@DOX drug delivery system that is sensitive to pH changes in the cancer microenvironment has been developed using a nanoparticle based on inorganic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). This system has high loading efficiency and can quickly release the drug to the target area, as confirmed by cell death in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer line.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mohamed Alaa Mohamed, Ajay Singh, Paras N. Prasad, Chong Cheng
Summary: Delivery of chemotherapeutics to cancer cells using polymeric micelles is a promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, the limited stability of micelles, premature drug release, and off-target effect hinder their utilization as effective drug delivery systems. In this study, pH-sensitive crosslinked polymeric micelles were designed to address these challenges and showed remarkable promise as smart drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Pitchai Chandrasekaran, Gandhi Sivaraman, Swetha Rasala, Mathur Gopalakrishnan Sethuraman, Niranjan G. Kotla, Yury Rochev
Summary: In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NDCDs) were developed as a drug carrier for anti-cancer drug delivery using quercetin (QC) as a model drug. The NDCDs were prepared using a simple hydrothermal method and exhibited small particle size and enhanced fluorescence properties. The NDCDs-QC conjugate showed nontoxicity to colon cancer cells and demonstrated the ability to kill cancer cells in the NDCDs-QC form. This development holds promise for drug delivery and bio-imaging in cancer therapy.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shujing Yue, Yifan Zhang, Yaohua Wei, Rainer Haag, Huanli Sun, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: A novel and robust targeted nanodrug, C-P-DM1, was developed for highly potent and stable therapy of EGFR-positive solid tumors. The drug demonstrated strong cytotoxicity in various cancer cell lines and effectively suppressed tumor growth in animal models without toxic effects, showing promising potential for targeted treatment of solid malignancies.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Thu Thi Anh Do, Santiago Grijalvo, Toyoko Imae, Maria Jose Garcia-Celma, Carlos Rodriguez-Abreu
Summary: The multifunctional rod-like CNCs-based carriers developed in this study have excellent drug-loading capacity and can be used for targeted drug delivery to tumor cells. They also exhibit fluorescence imaging and photodynamic/photothermal treatment capabilities, with pH-sensitive drug release behavior against cervical cancer cells.
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Mona M. Agwa, Marwa M. Abu-Serie, Doaa A. Abdelmonsif, Nermine Moussa, Hassan Elsayed, Sherine N. Khattab, Sally Sabra
Summary: Vitamin D3/ETP micelles, fabricated for targeted drug delivery, demonstrated superior anticancer effect with active targeting towards tumor cells while showing no toxicity to normal cells, making them an ideal system for cancer therapy.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Weihe Yao, Chenyu Liu, Ning Wang, Hengjun Zhou, Hailiang Chen, Weihong Qiao
Summary: Targeted multi-responsive drug delivery systems with MRI capabilities were successfully synthesized, showing high stability and biocompatibility in vivo with excellent drug targeting effects.
MATERIALS CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Jingmou Yu, Xin Xie, Liangliang Wang, Wenbo Liu, Huifeng Xu, Xiangmei Lu, Xiaofan Li, Jin Ren, Weidong Li
Summary: In this study, a dual-targeting and stimuli-responsive drug delivery system was designed for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The D-ACSSD micelles showed the most effective inhibition of tumor growth and lung metastasis in vivo, without obvious systemic toxicity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NANOMEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Setareh Sanati, Sahar Taghavi, Khalil Abnous, Seyed Mohammad Taghdisi, Maryam Babaei, Mohammad Ramezani, Mona Alibolandi
Summary: The study successfully developed PLA-PEI micelles co-loaded with CPT and sur-shRNA, demonstrating promising therapeutic effects for colorectal cancer by selectively targeting cancer cells and inducing cell apoptosis.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Sudipta Mallick, Ramadan Abouomar, David Rivas, Max Sokolich, Fatma Ceren Kirmizitas, Aditya Dutta, Sambeeta Das
Summary: Micro-sized magnetic particles, known as microrobots, have shown potential for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and cell manipulation. This study used microrobots to deliver anticancer drugs to cancer cells, resulting in cell death. The findings confirm the promise of microrobots as precise couriers for targeted delivery of therapeutic biomolecules for cancer therapy.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shui Ling Yi, Zi Ling Li, Yan Chun Gong, Xiang Yuan Xiong
Summary: Transferrin-conjugated polymersomes were successfully prepared and their targeting properties were studied. The results showed that transferrin-conjugated polymersomes had better targeting ability and exhibited good anticancer activity and multidrug resistance.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Jiahao Shi, Bin Ma, Yuhe Zhang, Haiyang Yong, Zhili Li, A. Sigen, Xiaobei Huang, Dezhong Zhou
Summary: Cancer therapy is a global challenge, but a variety of promising anticancer therapeutics have been developed. However, their direct administration often fails to achieve the desired efficacy due to low bioavailability and poor tissue selectivity. Polymers offer advantages for drug delivery, yet are generally poorly targeted to the tumor microenvironment (TME). The relatively lower acidity of the TME provides a specific trigger for the development of polymers for targeted delivery, and this article summarizes the strategies, mechanisms, and applications of acidity-sensitive polymers for delivering various anticancer therapeutics.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Athar Mahdieh, Hamidreza Motasadizadeh, Hamid Yeganeh, Bo Nystrom, Rassoul Dinarvand
Summary: Clickable and cleavable nanomicelles with stimuli-responsiveness have been developed for targeted drug delivery to tumor tissues, showing potential value in breast cancer therapy.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tian-tian Liao, Jiang-fan Han, Fei-yue Zhang, Ren Na, Wei-liang Ye
Summary: Folate-aminocaproic acid-doxorubicin (FA-AMA-hyd-DOX) was synthetized and found to have strong cytotoxicity and pH-responsive properties in vitro. It showed higher targeting ability and cytotoxicity towards FR-positive tumor cells compared to DOX. In vivo studies confirmed that FA modification can increase drug selectivity, leading to effective tumor growth inhibition in MDA-MB-231 cells, with almost no apparent damage to mice. These promising data suggest that FA-targeted FA-AMA-hyd-DOX is a potential tumor-targeted compound for breast cancer therapy.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Yinping Sun, Yongjie Sha, Guanhong Cui, Fenghua Meng, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: This review highlights the recent designs of smart systems that promote efficient lysosomal release and/or escape of anticancer agents and biotherapeutics, thereby boosting cancer therapy and immunotherapy. Lysosomal-mediated drug release presents an appealing approach to develop innovative cancer therapeutics and immunotherapeutics.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jiguo Xie, Xiaofei Zhao, Peng Zhang, Yueyue Zhang, Ru Cheng, Zhiyuan Zhong, Chao Deng
Summary: This study adopts phenylboronic acid-functionalized polypeptide nanovehicles for co-delivery of BCL2 (ABT199) and MCL1 (TW37) inhibitors to achieve synergistic and potent treatment of AML. The nanovehicles exhibit efficient and robust drug coencapsulation using dynamic boronic ester bonds, B-N coordination, and pi-pi stacking. In both mouse and cell models, the nanoparticles show significant anti-tumor activity and hold great potential for AML treatment.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shujing Yue, Jingnan An, Yifan Zhang, Jiaying Li, Cenzhu Zhao, Jingyi Liu, Lanlan Liang, Huanli Sun, Yang Xu, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has high mortality rate and limited treatment options. The lack of specific surface antigens makes targeted therapeutics and cell therapy difficult. The study shows that exogenous all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) can upregulate CD38 expression on leukemia cells, enabling targeted nanochemotherapy. Treatment with ATRA and DPV effectively eliminates leukemia cells and invasion, leading to exceptional survival benefits. The combination of exogenous CD38 upregulation and antibody-directed nanotherapeutics provides a powerful targeted therapy for leukemia.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mengying He, Mengyuan Wang, Tao Xu, Mengyao Zhang, Huaxing Dai, Chao Wang, Dawei Ding, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) act as important signaling molecules that can stimulate the immune system. ROS has emerged as a unique therapeutic strategy for malignant tumors because it can directly reduce tumor burden and induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) to trigger immune responses. However, immunosuppressive signals and dysfunction of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) often downplay the anti-tumor immune responses. Various strategies have been developed to enhance ROS-based cancer immunotherapy, such as combining with immune checkpoint inhibitors, tumor vaccines, and immunoadjuvants, which have shown promising results with limited side effects. This review introduces the concept of ROS-powered cancer immunotherapy, highlights innovative strategies to boost ROS-based cancer immunotherapy, and discusses challenges in clinical translation and future perspectives.
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jianwei Du, Shujing Yue, Chenming Li, Jiaying Li, Songsong Zhao, Yangyang Dong, Yifan Zhang, Ru Cheng, Huanli Sun, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: Researchers use exogenous all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) to upregulate CD38 expression on AML cells and enhance the AML-targeting of daratumumab-directed polymersomal volasertib molecular targeted drugs (DPVol), resulting in potent and safe AML depletion. The combination of ATRA stimulation and DPVol treatment shows significant reduction in leukemia burden in mouse models, with improved survival rates.
Review
Engineering, Biomedical
Yongjuan Li, Xinyan Li, Jinmeng Yi, Yongjian Cao, Zhihai Qin, Zhiyuan Zhong, Weijing Yang
Summary: As the first line of host defense against pathogenic infections, innate immunity plays a key role in anti-tumor immunotherapy. The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) (cGAS-STING) pathway and its activation of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines have attracted attention for cancer immunotherapy. However, the limitations of small molecule STING agonists, such as fast excretion, low bioavailability, nonspecificity, and adverse effects, hinder their therapeutic efficacy. Nanodelivery systems with appropriate characteristics can address these challenges.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Yifeng Xia, Jingnan An, Jiaying Li, Wenxing Gu, Yifan Zhang, Songsong Zhao, Cenzhu Zhao, Yang Xu, Bin Li, Zhiyuan Zhong, Fenghua Meng
Summary: This study found that transferrin-guided polymersomes (TPs) significantly enhance the targetability, potency, and safety of the PLK1 inhibitor volasertib (Vol) against acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Vol-loaded TPs (TPVol) exhibited the highest cellular uptake, effective down-regulation of p-PLK1, p-PTEN, and p-AKT, and superior apoptotic activity compared to free Vol in leukemic cells. TPVol showed 6-fold higher AUC and notable accumulation in AML-residing bone marrow after intravenous injection. In an orthotopic leukemic model, TPVol significantly reduced leukemic cell proportions in peripheral blood, bone marrow, liver, and spleen, enhanced mouse survival rate, and impeded bone loss. This transferrin-guided nano-delivery strategy appears to be an interesting approach for the development of novel treatments for AML.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Dawei Ni, Beibei Guo, Zhangyan Zhong, Yu Chen, Guang Yang, Jiangtao Yang, Zhiyuan Zhong, Fenghua Meng
Summary: This paper studies the influence of disulfide crosslinking on actively targeted nanomedicines for tumor therapy and finds that micellar docetaxel with a high disulfide content is advantageous in terms of stability, tumor uptake, and therapeutic efficacy.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Ri Huang, Hong Du, Liang Cheng, Peizhuo Zhang, Fenghua Meng, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: In this study, cRGD peptide-modified bioresponsive chimaeric polymersomes (cRGD-BCP) were used for efficient delivery of siKRAS to PANC-1 tumor cells, resulting in potent silencing of KRAS G12D mRNA and effective suppression of pancreatic cancer tumor growth in mice. The density of cRGD greatly impacted the uptake and silencing efficiency of cRGD-BCP-siKRAS. cRGD-BCP-siKRAS significantly enhanced the uptake of siKRAS in PANC-1 tumor and achieved remarkable tumor inhibition and survival benefits.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ran Chen, Jiakun Yang, Yumin Mao, Xiaofei Zhao, Ru Cheng, Chao Deng, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: This study reports that daratumumab-decorated polypeptide micelles can effectively deliver the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib to CD38-positive multiple myeloma cells, enhancing its anti-MM efficacy and significantly extending the survival time in mice.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ri Huang, Feifei Wang, He Fu, Xinming Qi, Guozhen Xing, Jin Ren, Liang Cheng, Fenghua Meng, Zhiyuan Zhong
Summary: In this study, the researchers developed bioresponsive chimaeric polymersomes (BCP) for efficient and specific delivery of siRNA to the liver. The BCP-siApoB showed remarkable liver specificity and high silencing efficacy.
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Twan Lammers, Zhiyuan Zhong
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Qin Yuan, Daoyang Fan, Yifan Zhang, Shujing Yue, Ru Cheng, Zhiyuan Zhong, Huanli Sun
Summary: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a neoplasm of abnormal plasma cells that ranks second among hematologic malignancies. Despite improvements in therapeutic modalities, MM remains incurable, necessitating the development of new and potent therapies. The study has developed a CD38-selective DPDC, which is a highly effective immunotherapy that can safely deplete MM cells in vivo.
BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Liang Yang, Yongjie Sha, Yuansong Wei, Hanghang Fang, Jingjing Jiang, Lichen Yin, Zhiyuan Zhong, Fenghua Meng
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated the use of mannose-installed chimaeric polymersomes (Man-PMTX) for targeted delivery of methotrexate (MTX) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Man-PMTX demonstrated high and robust loading of MTX, uniform size, minimal hemolytic activity, and glutathione-actuated drug release property. In vivo studies showed that Man-PMTX accumulated more in inflammatory joints, effectively treated RA by relieving inflammation, repolarizing macrophages, and mitigating proinflammatory cytokines, and protected synovium and bone from damage.
BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE
(2023)
