Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and therapy. Advances in protein engineering and materials science have contributed to novel nanoscale targeting approaches that may bring new hope to cancer patients. Several therapeutic nanocarriers have been approved for clinical use. However, to date, there are only a few clinically approved nanocarriers that incorporate molecules to selectively bind and target cancer cells. This review examines some of the approved formulations and discusses the challenges in translating basic research to the clinic. We detail the arsenal of nanocarriers and molecules available for selective tumour targeting, and emphasize the challenges in cancer treatment.

Nanocarriers as an emerging platform for cancer therapy

https://zenodo.org/record/1258475/files/article.pdf

Electron transfers in chemistry and biology

Liposomes — microscopic phospholipid bubbles with a bilayered membrane structure — have received a lot of attention during the past 30 years as pharmaceutical carriers of great potential. More recently, many new developments have been seen in the area of liposomal drugs — from clinically approved products to new experimental applications, with gene delivery and cancer therapy still being the principal areas of interest. For further successful development of this field, promising trends must be identified and exploited, albeit with a clear understanding of the limitations of these approaches.

Recent advances with liposomes as pharmaceutical carriers.

The intrinsic limits of conventional cancer therapies prompted the development and application of various nanotechnologies for more effective and safer cancer treatment, herein referred to as cancer nanomedicine. Considerable technological success has been achieved in this field, but the main obstacles to nanomedicine becoming a new paradigm in cancer therapy stem from the complexities and heterogeneity of tumour biology, an incomplete understanding of nano-bio interactions and the challenges regarding chemistry, manufacturing and controls required for clinical translation and commercialization. This Review highlights the progress, challenges and opportunities in cancer nanomedicine and discusses novel engineering approaches that capitalize on our growing understanding of tumour biology and nano-bio interactions to develop more effective nanotherapeutics for cancer patients.

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Cancer nanomedicine: progress, challenges and opportunities.

In the domain of health, one important challenge is the efficient delivery of drugs in the body using non-toxic nanocarriers. Most of the existing carrier materials show poor drug loading (usually less than 5 wt% of the transported drug versus the carrier material) and/or rapid release of the proportion of the drug that is simply adsorbed (or anchored) at the external surface of the nanocarrier. In this context, porous hybrid solids, with the ability to tune their structures and porosities for better drug interactions and high loadings, are well suited to serve as nanocarriers for delivery and imaging applications. Here we show that specific non-toxic porous iron(III)-based metal-organic frameworks with engineered cores and surfaces, as well as imaging properties, function as superior nanocarriers for efficient controlled delivery of challenging antitumoural and retroviral drugs (that is, busulfan, azidothymidine triphosphate, doxorubicin or cidofovir) against cancer and AIDS. In addition to their high loadings, they also potentially associate therapeutics and diagnostics, thus opening the way for theranostics, or personalized patient treatments.

Porous metal–organic-framework nanoscale carriers as a potential platform for drug delivery and imaging

Tumor-Targeted Hyaluronan Nanoliposomes Increase the Antitumor Activity of Liposomal Doxorubicin in Syngeneic and Human Xenograft Mouse Tumor Models

The frequent overexpression of the hyaluronan receptors CD44 and RHAMM in cancer cells opens the door for targeting by the naturally-occurring high-Mr hyaluronan. This is the first time effective in vivo tumor targeting is reported for mitomycin C (MMC) loaded inside nano-sized hyaluronan-liposomes (denoted tHA-LIP). The severe adverse effects of free MMC made it a rational candidate for an effective targeted carrier. In vitro, loading MMC inside tHA-LIP increased drug potency 100-fold, in cells overexpressing, but not in cells underexpressing, hyaluronan receptors. Both types of liposomes were non-toxic and reduced MMC-related toxicity in healthy C57BL/6 mice. In 3 tumor models, BALB/c bearing C-26 solid tumors; C57BL/6 bearing B16F10.9 or (separately) D122 lung metastasis, tHA-LIP were long-circulating, 7-fold and 70-fold longer than nt-LIP and free MMC, respectively. tHA-LIP-mediated MMC accumulation in tumor-bearing lungs was 20% of injected dose, compared to 0.6% and 4% with free drug and nt-LIP, respectively. Tumor-free lungs showed low accumulation, irrespective of drug formulation. Key indicators of therapeutic responses, tumor progression, metastatic burden and survival, were superior (p < 0.001) in animals receiving MMC-loaded tHA-LIP, no treatment, MMC-loaded nt-LIP and free drug. In conclusion, tHA-LIP perform as tumor-targeted carriers, with promising prospects for treatment of tumors overexpressing hyaluronan receptors. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ijc.11615

Loading mitomycin C inside long circulating hyaluronan targeted nano-liposomes increases its antitumor activity in three mice tumor models

The standard redox potential at I= 0.01, 25°C and pH 7.0 has been determined for the following species of cytochrome c: horse heart, baker's yeast isoenzyme-1, Candida species yeast, tuna heart and turkey heart. The thermodynamic parameters of the redox reaction were evaluated and found to be identical, within experimental error, in the five species investigated. The effect of pH on the standard redox potential of horse heart cytochrome c was studied in the pH range 7.0–11.2. A single heme-linked ionization of the oxidized protein was observed in this pH range, with a dissociation constant of 3 × 10−9 at I= 0 and 25°C. The effects of the electrostatic media on the standard redox potential of horse heart cytochrome c depend on the nature of the anions employed. For non-binding medium at 25°C, the observed potential dependence on the ionic strength is given by the equation: E0obs= 0.274–0.336 √I/(1 + 6√I). In binding medium, specific binding of ions to the protein takes place.

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1973.tb02633.x

Cytochrome c: a thermodynamic study of the relationships among oxidation state, ion-binding and structural parameters. 1. The effects of temperature, pH and electrostatic media on the standard redox potential of cytochrome c.

Rimona Margalit

Papers

Nanocarriers as an emerging platform for cancer therapy

Tumor-Targeted Hyaluronan Nanoliposomes Increase the Antitumor Activity of Liposomal Doxorubicin in Syngeneic and Human Xenograft Mouse Tumor Models

Loading mitomycin C inside long circulating hyaluronan targeted nano-liposomes increases its antitumor activity in three mice tumor models

Cytochrome c: a thermodynamic study of the relationships among oxidation state, ion-binding and structural parameters. 1. The effects of temperature, pH and electrostatic media on the standard redox potential of cytochrome c.

Molecular and Cellular Studies of Hyaluronic Acid-Modified Liposomes as Bioadhesive Carriers for Topical Drug Delivery in Wound Healing