Microfluidic platforms in diagnostic of ovarian cancer.

The most important reason for death from ovarian cancer is the late diagnosis of this disease. The standard treatment of ovarian cancer includes surgery and chemotherapy based on platinum, which is associated with side effects for the body. Due to the nonspecific nature of clinical symptoms, developing a platform for early detection of this disease is needed. In recent decades, the advancements of microfluidic devices and systems have provided several advantages for diagnosing ovarian cancer. Designing and manufacturing new platforms using specialized technologies can be a big step toward improving the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this group of diseases. Organ-on-a-chip microfluidic devices are increasingly used as a promising platform in cancer research, with a focus on specific biological aspects of the disease. This review focusing on ovarian cancer and microfluidic application technologies in its diagnosis. Additionally, it discusses microfluidic platforms and their potential future perspectives in advancing ovarian cancer diagnosis.

miRNA-encapsulated abiotic materials and biovectors for cutaneous and oral wound healing: Biogenesis, mechanisms, and delivery nanocarriers.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as therapeutic agents have attracted increasing interest in the past decade owing to their significant effectiveness in treating a wide array of ailments. These polymerases II-derived noncoding RNAs act through post-transcriptional controlling of different proteins and their allied pathways. Like other areas of medicine, researchers have utilized miRNAs for managing acute and chronic wounds. The increase in the number of patients suffering from either under-healing or over-healing wound demonstrates the limited efficacy of the current wound healing strategies and dictates the demands for simpler approaches with greater efficacy. Various miRNA can be designed to induce pathway beneficial for wound healing. However, the proper design of miRNA and its delivery system for wound healing applications are still challenging due to their limited stability and intracellular delivery. Therefore, new miRNAs are required to be identified and their delivery strategy needs to be optimized. In this review, we discuss the diverse roles of miRNAs in various stages of wound healing and provide an insight on the most recent findings in the nanotechnology and biomaterials field, which might offer opportunities for the development of new strategies for this chronic condition. We also highlight the advances in biomaterials and delivery systems, emphasizing their challenges and resolutions for miRNA-based wound healing. We further review various biovectors (e.g., adenovirus and lentivirus) and abiotic materials such as organic and inorganic nanomaterials, along with dendrimers and scaffolds, as the delivery systems for miRNA-based wound healing. Finally, challenges and opportunities for translation of miRNA-based strategies into clinical applications are discussed.

pH-Responsive, Adorned Nanoniosomes for Codelivery of Cisplatin and Epirubicin: Synergistic Treatment of Breast Cancer.

Combination chemotherapy has become a treatment modality for breast cancer. However, serious side effects and high cytotoxicity associated with this combination therapy make it a high-risk method for breast cancer treatment. This study evaluated the anticancer effect of decorated niosomal nanocarriers loaded with cisplatin (CIS) and epirubicin (EPI) in vitro (on SKBR3 and 4T1 breast cancer cells) and in vivo on BALB/c mice. For this purpose, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and folic acid (FA) were employed to prepare a functionalized niosomal system to improve endocytosis. FA-PEGylated niosomes exhibited desired encapsulation efficiencies of ∼91.2 and 71.9% for CIS and EPI, respectively. Moreover, cellular assays disclosed that a CIS and EPI-loaded niosome (NCE) and FA-PEGylated niosomal CIS and EPI (FPNCE) enhanced the apoptosis rate and cell migration in SKBR3 and 4T1 cells compared to CIS, EPI, and their combination (CIS+EPI). For FPNCE and NCE groups, the expression levels of Bax, Caspase3, Caspase9, and Mfn1 genes increased, whereas the expression of Bcl2, Drp1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 genes was downregulated. Histopathology results showed a reduction in the mitosis index, invasion, and pleomorphism in BALB/c inbred mice with NCE and FPNCE treatment. In this paper, for the first time, we report a niosomal nanocarrier functionalized with PEG and FA for codelivery of CIS and EPI to treat breast cancer. The results demonstrated that the codelivery of CIS and EPI through FA-PEGylated niosomes holds great potential for breast cancer treatment.

Mesoporous Bioactive Glasses in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy: Stimuli-Responsive, Toxicity, Immunogenicity, and Clinical Translation.

Cancer is one of the top life-threatening dangers to the human survival, accounting for over 10 million deaths per year. Bioactive glasses have developed dramatically since their discovery 50 years ago, with applications that include therapeutics as well as diagnostics. A new system within the bioactive glass family, mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), has evolved into a multifunctional platform, thanks to MBGs easy-to-functionalize nature and tailorable textural properties-surface area, pore size, and pore volume. Although MBGs have yet to meet their potential in tumor treatment and imaging in practice, recently research has shed light on the distinguished MBGs capabilities as promising theranostic systems for cancer imaging and therapy. This review presents research progress in the field of MBG applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy, including synthesis of MBGs, mechanistic overview of MBGs application in tumor diagnosis and drug monitoring, applications of MBGs in cancer therapy ( particularly, targeted delivery and stimuli-responsive nanoplatforms), and immunological profile of MBG-based nanodevices in reference to the development of novel cancer therapeutics.

Endocytosis of abiotic nanomaterials and nanobiovectors: Inhibition of membrane trafficking.

Humans are exposed to nanoscopical nanobiovectors (e.g. coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) as well as abiotic metal/carbon-based nanomaterials that enter cells serendipitously or intentionally. Understanding the interactions of cell membranes with these abiotic and biotic nanostructures will facilitate scientists to design better functional nanomaterials for biomedical applications. Such knowledge will also provide important clues for the control of viral infections and the treatment of virus-induced infectious diseases. In the present review, the mechanisms of endocytosis are reviewed in the context of how nanomaterials are uptaken into cells. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the attributes of man-made nanomaterials (e.g. size, shape, surface functional groups and elasticity) that affect endocytosis, as well as the different human cell types that participate in the endocytosis of nanomaterials. Readers are then introduced to the concept of viruses as nature-derived nanoparticles. The mechanisms in which different classes of viruses interact with various cell types to gain entry into the human body are reviewed with examples published over the last five years. These basic tenets will enable the avid reader to design advanced drug delivery and gene transfer nanoplatforms that harness the knowledge acquired from endocytosis to improve their biomedical efficacy. The review winds up with a discussion on the hurdles to be addressed in mimicking the natural mechanisms of endocytosis in nanomaterials design.