Subcellular Organelle Targeting of Mitochondria Using Nanomedicines: Cancer Therapeutics and Theranostics Potential

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-390
Author(s):  
Revathi Paramasivam Oviya ◽  
Gopisetty Gopal

Nanomedicines are rapidly evolving in chemotherapy and image-guided theranostics for specific and controlled delivery of the target therapeutic molecule. Targeting the subcellular organelles of cancer cells has gained focus in the recent decade for precise targeting of cancer cells and the activation of specific cancer death pathways. This strategy also overcomes the limitations of conventional chemo and radiation therapies, such as non-specificity and toxicity to the surrounding healthy tissue. Diverse roles of mitochondria in cancer, including oxidative stress signaling, metabolic reprogramming, cell death evasion, and cell survival mechanism, make it a promising target for cancer therapy. However, targeting mitochondria is tedious due to its complex structure and strong negative membrane potential. Various studies have designed mitochondria specific inorganic-, polymer-, dendrimer-, peptide- and protein-based nanoformulations to overcome barriers in targeting mitochondria of cancer cells. In this review, we have summarized the recently developed mitochondria-targeted nanoformulations in the field of chemotherapy, imageguided phototherapy, and combinatorial therapies. These nanoformulations showed enhanced cell penetration and mitochondrial accumulation of the drug molecules. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown promising results and further pre-clinical and clinical studies are required to develop these nanoformulations as effective cancer therapy.

Author(s):  
Serda Kecel Gunduz ◽  
Bilge Bicak ◽  
Aysen E. Ozel

In this chapter, computational approaches for the discovery of new drugs that are useful for diagnosis and treatment of disease will be described in three parts. MD technique uniquely supports protein design attempts by giving information about protein dynamics associated with atomic-level descriptions of the relationship between dynamics and function. The purpose of molecular docking is to provide an estimate of the ligand-receptor complex structure using computational methods. By this estimation, the mechanism of drug binding and action are described by determining the three-dimensional simulation of drug and drug-induced macrostructure. ADME characteristics are physicochemically significant descriptors and pharmacokinetically relevant properties used to design more effective drugs and new analogs. As a result, in-silico calculations can provide robust preliminary information as to drug activity and mechanism in the drug production process, as well as in vitro and in vivo studies.


2022 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wang ◽  
Di Wang ◽  
Moupan Cen ◽  
Danni Jing ◽  
Jiali Bei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cancer is the most serious world's health problems on the global level and various strategies have been developed for cancer therapy. Pillar[5]arene-based supramolecular therapeutic nano-platform (SP/GOx NPs) was constructed successfully via orthogonal dynamic covalent bonds and intermolecular H-bonds with the assistance of glucose oxidase (GOx) and exhibited efficient targeted/synergistic chemo-chemodynamic cancer therapy. Methods The morphology of SP/GOx NPs was characterized by DLS, TEM, SEM and EDS mapping. The cancer therapy efficinecy was investigated both in vivo and in vitro. Results SP/GOx NPs can load drug molecules (Dox) and modify target molecule (FA-Py) on its surface conveniently. When the resultant FA-Py/SP/GOx/Dox NPs enters blood circulation, FA-Py will target it to cancer cells efficiently, where GOx can catalyst the overexpressed glucose to generate H2O2. Subsequently, the generated H2O2 in cancer cells catalyzed by ferrocene unit to form •OH, which can kill cancer cells. Furthermore, the loaded Dox molecules released under acid microenvironment, which can further achieve chemo-therapy. Conclusion All the experiments showed that the excellent antitumor performance of FA-Py/SP/GOx/Dox NPs, which provided an new method for pillar[5]arene-based supramolecular polymer for biomedical applications. Graphical Abstract


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin-Hui Lai ◽  
Kexin Xu ◽  
Jianhua Zhou ◽  
Mingrui Wang ◽  
Weiyu Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractBladder cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignant tumors in the urinary system and causes a massive cancer-related death. DEPDC1B is a DEP domain-containing protein that has been found to be associated with a variety of human cancers. This study aimed to explore the role and mechanism of DEPDC1B in the development of bladder cancer. The analysis of clinical specimens revealed the upregulated expression of DEPDC1B in bladder cancer, which was positively related to tumor grade. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that DEPDC1B knockdown could inhibit the growth of bladder cancer cells or xenografts in mice. The suppression of bladder cancer by DEPDC1B was executed through inhibiting cell proliferation, cell migration, and promoting cell apoptosis. Moreover, a mechanistic study found that SHC1 may be an important route through which DEPDC1B regulates the development of bladder cancer. Knockdown of SHC1 in DEPDC1B-overexpressed cancer cells could abolish the promotion effects induced by DEPDC1B. In conclusion, DEPDC1B was identified as a key regulator in the development of bladder cancer, which may be used as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of bladder cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1035-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian He ◽  
Lisha Ai ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Hao Huang ◽  
Yuebin Li ◽  
...  

The NIR-laser-driven plasmonic photothermal and sustained drug release behavior of CuS–PTX/SiO2 nanocapsules show great synergistic chemo-photothermal therapeutic effects on cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.


2017 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 102-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.S. Pedrosa ◽  
P. Pereira ◽  
A. Correia ◽  
F.M. Gama

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Komakech ◽  
Youngmin Kang ◽  
Jun-Hwan Lee ◽  
Francis Omujal

Prostate cancer remains one of the major causes of death worldwide. In view of the limited treatment options for patients with prostate cancer, preventive and treatment approaches based on natural compounds can play an integral role in tackling this disease. Recent evidence supports the beneficial effects of plant-derived phytochemicals as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents for various cancers, including prostate cancer. Prunus africana has been used for generations in African traditional medicine to treat prostate cancer. This review examined the potential roles of the phytochemicals from P. africana, an endangered, sub-Saharan Africa plant in the chemoprevention and chemotherapy of prostate cancer. In vitro and in vivo studies have provided strong pharmacological evidence for antiprostate cancer activities of P. africana-derived phytochemicals. Through synergistic interactions between different effective phytochemicals, P. africana extracts have been shown to exhibit very strong antiandrogenic and antiangiogenic activities and have the ability to kill tumor cells via apoptotic pathways, prevent the proliferation of prostate cancer cells, and alter the signaling pathways required for the maintenance of prostate cancer cells. However, further preclinical and clinical studies ought to be done to advance and eventually use these promising phytochemicals for the prevention and chemotherapy of human prostate cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (5_suppl) ◽  
pp. 41-41
Author(s):  
Charles E. Prussak ◽  
Christopher Oh ◽  
Juliana Velez Lujan ◽  
Sharon Lam ◽  
Jieyu Zhang ◽  
...  

41 Background: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells (CAR-T) were generated targeting cells expressing ROR1, which is present on many malignant cancers and has been associated with cancer stemness and chemo-resistance. The ROR1 CAR utilizes the humanized single-chain fragment variable (scFv) binding domain of UC-961 (cirmtuzumab), which exhibits high affinity and specificity for human ROR1 and has demonstrated an excellent safety profile in Phase 1 studies. Methods: CAR constructs with varying spacer regions and intracellular co-stimulatory domains, using the scFV of cirmtuzumab, were constructed and used to generate CAR-T cells from healthy donors. These ROR1 CAR-T cells were tested for cytotoxicity against lymphoid cancer cells in vitro and in vivo studies that employed immune-deficient mice engrafted with labeled human leukemia cells MEC1 or MEC1-ROR1, which had been transfected to stably express ROR1. Results: The 2nd generation and 3rd generation CAR-T-cells with analogous spacer regions were comparably potent and selectively cytotoxic for cells bearing the ROR1 target antigen. But the 2nd generation CARs demonstrated greater potency in vitro even at low effector to target ratios. For the in vivo studies, mice received a single injection of ROR1 CAR-T cells or activated T cells from the same donor as a control. The ROR1 CAR-T cells rapidly cleared the leukemic cells from the animals, whereas animals receiving control T cells or no therapy quickly succumbed to progressive disease within 3 weeks. The administered CAR-T products remained highly active following administration and could be detected for ≥ 3 months without evidence for T cell exhaustion. Conclusions: The generated CAR-T cells utilizing constructs with the Fv of cirmtuzumab, a humanized mAb highly specific for ROR1, onco-embryonic surface antigen, effectively and selectively killed neoplastic cells bearing ROR1 both in vitro and in vivo. As ROR1 expression and signaling has been associated with cancer stemness and chemo-resistance utilizing ROR1 CAR-T therapy to target cancer cells might mitigate tumor escape. These data strongly support the rationale for continued development of our ROR1 CAR-T.


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