scholarly journals Photosensitive Supramolecular Micelle-Mediated Cellular Uptake of Anticancer Drugs Enhances the Efficiency of Chemotherapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yihalem Abebe Alemayehu ◽  
Wen-Lu Fan ◽  
Fasih Bintang Ilhami ◽  
Chih-Wei Chiu ◽  
Duu-Jong Lee ◽  
...  

The development of stimuli-responsive supramolecular micelles with high drug-loading contents that specifically induce significant levels of apoptosis in cancer cells remains challenging. Herein, we report photosensitive uracil-functionalized supramolecular micelles that spontaneously form via self-assembly in aqueous solution, exhibit sensitive photo-responsive behavior, and effectively encapsulate anticancer drugs at high drug-loading contents. Cellular uptake analysis and double-staining flow cytometric assays confirmed the presence of photo-dimerized uracil groups within the irradiated micelles remarkably enhanced endocytic uptake of the micelles by cancer cells and subsequently led to higher levels of apoptotic cell death, and thus improved the therapeutic effect in vitro. Thus, photo-dimerized uracil-functionalized supramolecular micelles may potentially represent an intelligent nanovehicle to improve the safety, efficacy, and applicability of cancer chemotherapy, and could also enable the development of nucleobase-based supramolecular micelles for multifunctional biomaterials and novel biomedical applications.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 3301-3309
Author(s):  
Xiawen Zheng ◽  
Yuejian Chen ◽  
Zhiming Wang ◽  
Lina Song ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
...  

Through self-assembly of nanoparticles into high-order and stable structures of cubic clusters, high drug-loading rubik-like magnetic nano-assemblies (MNAs), possessing folic acid targeting and strong magnetism-enhanced cellular uptake capabilities, were built. In this study, the core of the cubic drug assemblies consisted of four monodisperse superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated with layers of oleic acid (Fe3O4@OA), simultaneously encapsulating fluorescein, and Paclitaxol (Flu-MNAs and PTX-MNAs) for imaging and therapeutic applications. To enable preferential tumor cellular uptake by the nanocarriers, the outermost layer of Fe3O4 was functionalized with the new dual-oleic acid-polyethylene glycol-folic acid polymer (FA-PEG-Lys-OA2) as a “shell.” The drug carriers exhibited excellent stability and biocompatibility, and showed high drug loading and excellent magnetic response In Vitro. Furthermore, preliminary evaluations of the drug carriers with Hela cells showed effective cellular targeting capability. In addition, the cubic assemblies enhanced anticancer efficiency for Hela cells compared to bare drugs. Especially, the applied external magnetic field further improved the uptake of the vectors, and thereby enhanced the inhibitory effect. In brief, all these results suggested that cubic assemblies could serve as potential strategies for targeted anticancer therapies.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0250670
Author(s):  
Yue Gao ◽  
Jingxue Nai ◽  
Zhenbo Yang ◽  
Jinbang Zhang ◽  
Siyu Ma ◽  
...  

We developed a novel preparative method for nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab) paclitaxel with high drug loading, which was based on improved paclitaxel solubility in polyethylene glycol (PEG) and self-assembly of paclitaxel in PEG with albumin powders into nanoparticles. That is, paclitaxel and PEG were firstly dissolved in ethanol, which was subsequently evaporated under vacuum. The obtained liquid was then mixed with human serum albumin powders. Thereafter, the mixtures were added into phosphate-buffered saline and nab paclitaxel suspensions emerged after ultrasound. Nab paclitaxel was finally acquired after dialysis and freeze drying. The drug loading of about 15% (W/V) were realized in self-made nab paclitaxel, which was increased by approximately 50% compared to 10% (W/V) in Abraxane. Now this new preparative method has been authorized to obtain patent from China and Japan. The similar characteristics of self-made nab paclitaxel compared to Abraxane were observed in morphology, encapsulation efficiency, in vitro release, X-ray diffraction analysis, differential scanning calorimetry analysis, and circular dichroism spectra analysis. Consistent concentration-time curves in rats, biodistributions in mice, anti-tumor activities in mice, and histological transmutation in mice were also found between Abraxane and self-made nanoparticles. In a word, our novel preparative method for nab paclitaxel can significantly improve drug loading, obviously decrease product cost, and is considered to have potent practical value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1373-1381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong Cheng ◽  
Cheng Li ◽  
Xulong Zhu ◽  
Wei Han ◽  
Jianhui Li ◽  
...  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and malignant cancers and has no effective therapeutic approaches. Chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) is widely used for HCC therapy, but its application is limited by the clinical toxicity. In the present study, an Fe3O4-ZIF-8 magnetic nano-composite was fabricated and used for DOX delivery for HCC therapy. The morphology, structure and property of Fe3O4-ZIF-8 nano-composites were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms studies. The drug release from DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 was measured in pH 7.4 phosphate-buffered saline. The cellular uptake ability of DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 into hepatocarcinoma cell line (MHCC97H) was visualized with a confocal laser scanning microscope. The effects of Fe3O4-ZIF-8, DOX and DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 against MHCC97H cells were evaluated by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry assay. Fe3O4-ZIF-8 nano-composites were synthesized and used as a nano-carrier for the delivery of DOX. Because of high drug loading property of ZIF-8, 1 mg Fe3O4-ZIF-8 nano-composites loaded 120 μg DOX when DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 was synthesized in 30 mg/mL DOX solution. The cumulative DOX release curve showed a slow and sustained release pattern over time. The results of CCK-8 assay showed that Fe3O4-ZIF-8 was nontoxic to MHCC97H cells, and DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 presented effective inhibiting effect on cell viability of MHCC97H cells. Cellular uptake assay showed that DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 accumulated in both cytoplasm and nuclei. Moreover, because of valid drug accumulation, DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 exhibited a good inducing effect on cell apoptosis of MHCC97H cells. In conclusion, based on the nontoxic and high drug loading capability of Fe3O4-ZIF-8, DOX@Fe3O4-ZIF-8 presented enhanced effects on HCC cells compared to free DOX, indicating its potential for the chemotherapy of HCC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (35) ◽  
pp. 7994-8001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beibei Lu ◽  
Gaoxin Zhou ◽  
Fan Xiao ◽  
Qianjun He ◽  
Jiaheng Zhang

A novel poly(ionic liquid) (PIL)-based block copolymer, which can self-assemble into spherical nanoparticles, high drug loading content, and good ability to inhibit tumors. Therefore, this copolymer shows great potential for drug delivery. 


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malik Salman Haider ◽  
Jochen Schreiner ◽  
Sabine Kendl ◽  
Matthias Kroiß ◽  
Robert Luxenhofer

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare tumor and prognosis is overall poor but heterogeneous. Mitotane (MT) has been used for treatment of ACC for decades, either alone or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy. Even at doses up to 6 g per day, more than half of the patients do not achieve targeted plasma concentration (14-20 mg/L) even after many months of treatment which is caused by low water solubility and unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties such as poor bioavailability and high volume of distribution of MT. The clinical need and previously reported extraordinary high drug loading of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(2-butyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (A-pBuOx-A) based micelles for paclitaxel (PTX), led us to develop MT loaded micelles which may enable an injectable formulation. We successfully solubilized up to 6 g/L of MT in an aqueous formulation. The MT loaded nanoformulations were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray<br> <p>diffraction (XRD), confirmed the amorphous nature of drug in the formulations. The polymer itself did not show cytotoxicity in adrenal and liver cell lines. By using the ACC model cell line NCI-H295 both in monolayers and tumor cell spheroids, we demonstrated micellar MT to exhibit comparable efficacy to its ethanol solution. We postulate that this formulation would be suitable for i.v. application and more rapid attainment of therapeutic plasma concentrations. In conclusion, we consider our micellar formulation a promising tool to alleviate major drawbacks of current MT treatment while retaining bioactivity towards ACC in vitro.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Leng ◽  
Hongliang Huang ◽  
Wenping Wang ◽  
Na Sai ◽  
Longtai You ◽  
...  

Drug delivery carriers with a high drug loading capacity and biocompatibility, especially for controlled drug release, are urgently needed due to the side effects and frequent dose in the traditional therapeutic method. Guided by nanomaterials, we have successfully synthesized zirconium-based metal−organic frameworks, Zr-TCPP (TCPP: tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin), namely, PCN-222, which is synthesized by solvothermal method. And it has been designed as a drug delivery system (DDS) with a high drug loading of 38.77 wt%. In our work, PCN-222 has achieved pH-sensitive drug release and showed comprehensive SEM, TEM, PXRD, DSC, FTIR, and N2 adsorption-desorption. The low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility of PCN-222 were certificated by the in vitro results from an MTT assay, DAPI staining, and Annexin V/PI double-staining even cultivated L02 cells and HepG2 cells for 48h. Furthermore, Oridonin, a commonly used cancer chemotherapy drug, is adsorbed into PCN-222 via the solvent diffusion technique. Based on an analysis of the Oridonin release profile, results suggest that it can last for more than 7 days in vitro. And cumulative release rate of Ori at the 7 d was about 86.29% and 63.23% in PBS (pH 5.5 and pH 7.2, respectively) at 37°C. HepG2 cells were chosen to research the cytotoxicity of PCN-222@Ori and free Oridonin. The results demonstrated that the PCN-222@Ori nanocarrier shows higher cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells compared to Oridonin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 1050-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liangcan He ◽  
Kanglei Pang ◽  
Wenwen Liu ◽  
Yue Tian ◽  
Lin Chang ◽  
...  

Core–shell Au@zeolitic-imidazolate-framework nanocarriers with high drug-loading, controlled drug release properties, and high cancer treatment efficiency.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 680
Author(s):  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyue Tang ◽  
Chuanqing Huang ◽  
Zeyu Liu ◽  
Yong Ye

Oleic acid (OA) as main component of plant oil is an important solvent but seldom used in the nanocarrier of anticancer drugs because of strong hydrophobicity and little drug release. In order to develop a new type of OA nanomaterial with dual responses to pH and near infrared light (NIR) to achieve the intelligent delivery of anticancer drugs. The novel OA copolymer (mPEG-PEI-(NBS, OA)) was synthesized by grafting OA and o-nitrobenzyl succinate (NBS) onto mPEGylated polyethyleneimine (mPEG-PEI) by amidation reaction. It was further conjugated with NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ nanoparticles, and encapsulated doxorubicin (DOX) through self-assembly to make upconversion nanomicelles with dual response to pH and NIR. Drug release behavior of DOX, physicochemical characteristics of the nanomicelles were evaluated, along with its cytotoxic profile, as well as the degree of cellular uptake in A549 cells. The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading capacity of DOX in the nanomicelles were 73.84% ± 0.58% and 4.62% ± 0.28%, respectively, and the encapsulated DOX was quickly released in an acidic environment exposed to irradiation at 980 nm. The blank nanomicelles exhibited low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility by MTT assay against A549 cells. The DOX-loaded nanomicelles showed remarkable cytotoxicity to A549 cells under NIR, and promoted the cellular uptake of DOX into the cytoplasm and nucleus of cancer cells. OA copolymer can effectively deliver DOX to cancer cells and achieve tumor targeting through a dual response to pH and NIR.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1190-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiao Shi ◽  
Meili Hou ◽  
Xiaoqian Ma ◽  
Shuang Bai ◽  
Tian Zhang ◽  
...  

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