scholarly journals Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 180-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Demazeau ◽  
Laure Gibot ◽  
Anne-Françoise Mingotaud ◽  
Patricia Vicendo ◽  
Clément Roux ◽  
...  

Photodynamic therapy is a technique already used in ophthalmology or oncology. It is based on the local production of reactive oxygen species through an energy transfer from an excited photosensitizer to oxygen present in the biological tissue. This review first presents an update, mainly covering the last five years, regarding the block copolymers used as nanovectors for the delivery of the photosensitizer. In particular, we describe the chemical nature and structure of the block copolymers showing a very large range of existing systems, spanning from natural polymers such as proteins or polysaccharides to synthetic ones such as polyesters or polyacrylates. A second part focuses on important parameters for their design and the improvement of their efficiency. Finally, particular attention has been paid to the question of nanocarrier internalization and interaction with membranes (both biomimetic and cellular), and the importance of intracellular targeting has been addressed.

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1345
Author(s):  
Sherif Ashraf Fahmy ◽  
Hassan Mohamed El-Said Azzazy ◽  
Jens Schaefer

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising non-invasive strategy in the fight against that which circumvents the systemic toxic effects of chemotherapeutics. It relies on photosensitizers (PSs), which are photoactivated by light irradiation and interaction with molecular oxygen. This generates highly reactive oxygen species (such as 1O2, H2O2, O2, ·OH), which kill cancer cells by necrosis or apoptosis. Despite the promising effects of PDT in cancer treatment, it still suffers from several shortcomings, such as poor biodistribution of hydrophobic PSs, low cellular uptake, and low efficacy in treating bulky or deep tumors. Hence, various nanoplatforms have been developed to increase PDT treatment effectiveness and minimize off-target adverse effects. Liposomes showed great potential in accommodating different PSs, chemotherapeutic drugs, and other therapeutically active molecules. Here, we review the state-of-the-art in encapsulating PSs alone or combined with other chemotherapeutic drugs into liposomes for effective tumor PDT.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Amari ◽  
Marc Germain

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged in the last decade as critical cell-to-cell communication devices used to carry nucleic acids and proteins between cells. EV cargo includes plasma membrane and endosomal proteins, but EVs also contain material from other cellular compartments, including mitochondria. Within cells, mitochondria are responsible for a large range of metabolic reactions, but they can also produce damaging levels of reactive oxygen species and induce inflammation when damaged. Consistent with this, recent evidence suggests that EV-mediated transfer of mitochondrial content alters metabolic and inflammatory responses of recipient cells. As EV mitochondrial content is also altered in some pathologies, this could have important implications for their diagnosis and treatment. In this review, we will discuss the nature and roles of mitochondrial EVs, with a special emphasis on the nervous system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Chen Yang ◽  
Wei-Yun Wang ◽  
Feng-Huei Lin ◽  
Chun-Han Hou

Conventional photodynamic therapy (PDT) is limited by its penetration depth due to the photosensitizer and light source. In this study, we developed X-ray induced photodynamic therapy that applied X-ray as the light source to activate Ce-doped CaCO3 (CaCO3:Ce) to generate an intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) for killing cancer cells. The A549 cell line was used as the in vitro and in vivo model to evaluate the efficacy of X-ray-induced CaCO3:Ce. The cell viability significantly decreased and cell cytotoxicity obviously increased with CaCO3:Ce exposure under X-ray irradiation, which is less harmful than radiotherapy in tumor treatment. CaCO3:Ce produced significant ROS under X-ray irradiation and promoted A549 cancer cell death. CaCO3:Ce can enhance the efficacy of X-ray induced PDT, and tumor growth was inhibited in vivo. The blood analysis and hematoxylin and eosin stain (H&E) stain fully supported the safety of the treatment. The mechanisms underlying ROS and CO2 generation by CaCO3:Ce activated by X-ray irradiation to induce cell toxicity, thereby inhibiting tumor growth, is discussed. These findings and advances are of great importance in providing a novel therapeutic approach as an alternative tumor treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 340-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Hong Ong ◽  
Andreaa Dimofte ◽  
Michele M. Kim ◽  
Jarod C. Finlay ◽  
Tianqi Sheng ◽  
...  

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