Maximizing arsenic trioxide's anticancer potential: Targeted nanocarriers for solid tumor therapy.

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) has gained significant attention due to its promising therapeutic effects in treating different diseases, particularly acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Its potent anticancer mechanisms have been extensively studied. Despite the great efficacy ATO shows in fighting cancers, drawbacks in the clinical use are obvious, especially for solid tumors, which include rapid renal clearance and short half-life, severe adverse effects, and high toxicity to normal cells. Recently, the emergence of nanomedicine offers a potential solution to these limitations. The enhanced biocompatibility, excellent targeting capability, and desirable effectiveness have attracted much interest. Therefore, we summarized various nanocarriers for targeted delivery of ATO to solid tumors. We also provided detailed anticancer mechanisms of ATO in treating cancers, its clinical trials and shortcomings as well as the combination therapy of ATO and other chemotherapeutic agents for reduced drug resistance and synergistic effects. Finally, the future study direction and prospects were also presented.

Bioinspired ginsenoside Rg3 PLGA nanoparticles coated with tumor-derived microvesicles to improve chemotherapy efficacy and alleviate toxicity.

Breast cancer, a pervasive malignancy affecting women, demands a diverse treatment approach including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical interventions. However, the effectiveness of doxorubicin (DOX), a cornerstone in breast cancer therapy, is limited when used as a monotherapy, and concerns about cardiotoxicity persist. Ginsenoside Rg3, a classic compound of traditional Chinese medicine found in Panax ginseng C. A. Mey., possesses diverse pharmacological properties, including cardiovascular protection, immune modulation, and anticancer effects. Ginsenoside Rg3 is considered a promising candidate for enhancing cancer treatment when combined with chemotherapy agents. Nevertheless, the intrinsic challenges of Rg3, such as its poor water solubility and low oral bioavailability, necessitate innovative solutions. Herein, we developed Rg3-PLGA@TMVs by encapsulating Rg3 within PLGA nanoparticles (Rg3-PLGA) and coating them with membranes derived from tumor cell-derived microvesicles (TMVs). Rg3-PLGA@TMVs displayed an array of favorable advantages, including controlled release, prolonged storage stability, high drug loading efficiency and a remarkable ability to activate dendritic cells in vitro. This activation is evident through the augmentation of CD86+CD80+ dendritic cells, along with a reduction in phagocytic activity and acid phosphatase levels. When combined with DOX, the synergistic effect of Rg3-PLGA@TMVs significantly inhibits 4T1 tumor growth and fosters the development of antitumor immunity in tumor-bearing mice. Most notably, this delivery system effectively mitigates the toxic side effects of DOX, particularly those affecting the heart. Overall, Rg3-PLGA@TMVs provide a novel strategy to enhance the efficacy of DOX while simultaneously mitigating its associated toxicities and demonstrate promising potential for the combined chemo-immunotherapy of breast cancer.

Flavonol Derivatives Containing a Quinazolinone Moiety: Design, Synthesis, and Antiviral Activity.

A series of flavonol derivatives containing quinazolinone were designed and synthesized, and their antiviral activities against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) were evaluated. The results of the half maximal effective concentration (EC50 ) test against TMV showed that the EC50 value of curative activity of K5 was 139.6 µg/mL, which was better than that of the commercial drug ningnanmycin (NNM) 296.0 µg/mL, and the EC50 value of protective activity of K5 was 120.6 µg/mL, which was superior to that of NNM 207.0 µg/mL. The interaction of K5 with TMV coat protein (TMV-CP) was investigated using microscale thermophoresis (MST) and molecular docking and the results showed that K5 can combine with TMV-CP more strongly to TMV-CP than that NNM can. Furthermore, the assay measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) content indicated that K5 had the ability to improve the disease resistance of tobacco. Hence, this study offers strong evidence that flavonol derivatives have potential as novel antiviral agents.

Preparation and Characterization of Erythrocyte Membrane-Camouflaged Berberine Hydrochloride-Loaded Gelatin Nanoparticles.

The discovery of a new pharmacological application of berberine hydrochloride (BH) made it more clinically valuable. However, the further development of BH was hampered by its short half-life and side effects after intravenous injection. To overcome these problems, a novel BH delivery system was developed using natural red blood cell membrane-camouflaged BH-loaded gelatin nanoparticles (RBGPs) to reduce the toxicity associated with injections and achieve sustained release. The size of the RBGPs was 260.3 ± 4.1 nm, with an obvious core⁻shell structure, and the membrane proteins of the RBGPs were mostly retained. The RBGP system showed significant immune-evading capabilities and little cytotoxicity to human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cells and LO2 cells. Finally, RBGPs improved the sustained releasing effect of BH significantly. When the cumulative release time reached 120 h, the cumulative release rate of RBGPs was 78.42%. In brief, RBGPs hold the potential to achieve long circulation and sustained-release of BH, avoid side effects caused by high plasma concentration in common injection formulations, and broaden the clinical applications of BH.

Glypican-3-targeted precision diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma on clinical sections with a supramolecular 2D imaging probe.

The ability of chemical tools to effectively detect malignancy in frozen sections removed from patients during surgery is important for the timely determination of the subsequent surgical program. However, current clinical methods for tissue imaging rely on dye-based staining or antibody-based techniques, which are sluggish and complicated. Methods: Here, we have developed a 2D material-based supramolecular imaging probe for the simple, rapid yet precise diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The 2D probe is constructed through supramolecular self-assembly between a water soluble, fluorescent peptide ligand that selectively targets glypican-3 (GPC-3, a specific cell-surface biomarker for HCC) and 2D molybdenum disulfide that acts as a fluorescence quencher as well as imaging enhancer. Results: We show that the 2D imaging probe developed with minimal background fluorescence can sensitively and selectively image cells overexpressing GPC-3 over a range of control cells expressing other membrane proteins. Importantly, we demonstrate that the 2D probe is capable of rapidly (signal became readable within 1 min) imaging HCC tissues over para-carcinoma regions in frozen sections derived from HCC patients; the results are in accordance with those obtained using traditional clinical staining methods. Conclusion: Compared to conventional staining methods, which are laborious (e.g., over 30 min is needed for antibody-based immunosorbent assays) and complex (e.g., diagnosis is based on discrimination of the nucleus morphology of cancer cells from that of normal cells), our probe, with its simplicity and quickness, might become a promising candidate for tumor-section staining as well as fluorescence imaging-guided surgery.

Magnesium Lithospermate B Suppresses Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Neuroinflammation in BV2 Microglial Cells and Attenuates Neurodegeneration in Lipopolysaccharide-Injected Mice.

Chronic inflammation in the brain plays a critical role in major neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Microglia, the resident macrophages and intrinsic components of the central nervous system (CNS), appear to be the main effectors in this pathological process. Magnesium lithospermate B (MLB) is one of the major bioactive components of Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae, which has been documented to protect neurons against multiple types of neuronal injury. However, its functions on microglia and the related neuroinflammation remain unknown. In the present study, BV2 microglial cells were used to assess the anti-neuroinflammatory capacity of MLB. Our data show that treatment with MLB could not only suppress lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced proliferation and morphological changes, but also interfere with cell cycle progression in BV2 cells. More strikingly, it attenuated the production of the inflammatory mediator nitric oxide (NO) and a panel of pro-inflammatory cytokine in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1ß, and IL-6, and also promoted a phenotypic switch from the M1 to the M2 phenotype. Additionally, an in vivo study showed that the administration of MLB could ameliorate lipopolysaccharide-induced neurodegeneration and microglial activation in the hippocampus of adult mice. Mechanistically, MLB blocked the activation of the NF-κB pathway upon LPS stimulation, indicating that the effects of MLB on microglia may be mediated by the NK-κB pathway. These results suggest the therapeutic potential of MLB as a novel anti-inflammatory and microglia-modulating drug for neurodegenerative diseases.

Preparation and characterization of erythrocyte membrane cloaked PLGA/arsenic trioxide nanoparticles and evaluation of their in vitro anti-tumor effect.

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is used for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) that is resistant to all-trans-retinoic acid, but its direct intravenous injection sometimes induces severe toxic side effects. Here, we developed a delivery system of red blood cell membrane (RBCM) cloaked poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA)-ATO nanoparticles (RPANs) to reduce the toxicity. PLGA was used to entrap the ATO, and the PLGA-ATO nanoparticles (PANs) were prepared by the emulsification method. Then RBCMs were employed to cloak the PANs using ultrasonication, to develop the RPANs delivery system. The prepared RPANs had a uniform size of around 233.6 nm with an obvious core-shell structure, as observed by TEM. The completeness of the membrane proteins was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and an in vitro release time of 65 h was determined for the RPANs. The RPANs also exhibited low cytotoxicity against the 293k kidney cell line (84.6% cell viability rate), which suggested that the ATO toxicity was reduced by RBCM cloaking. Moreover, the anti-tumor effects of the RPANs against the HL60 cell line were comparable to those of ATO solution. Our study demonstrated that the RPANs system has anti-tumor potential and could be developed into a safe and sustained release delivery system for ATO.