Molecular Targeting of Liposomal Nanoparticles to Tumor Microenvironment.

Molecular targeting of liposomal nanoparticles to tumor microenvironment.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Int J Nanomedicine. 2013; 8: 61-71
Zhao G, Rodriguez BL

Liposomes are biodegradable and can be used to deliver drugs at a much higher concentration in tumor tissues than in normal tissues. Both passive and active drug delivery by liposomal nanoparticles can significantly reduce the toxic side effects of anticancer drugs and enhance the therapeutic efficacy of the drugs delivered. Active liposomal targeting to tumors is achieved by recognizing specific tumor receptors through tumor-specific ligands or antibodies coupled onto the surface of the liposomes, or by stimulus-sensitive drug carriers such as acid-triggered release or enzyme-triggered drug release. Tumors are often composed of tumor cells and nontumor cells, which include endothelial cells, pericytes, fibroblasts, stromal, mesenchymal cells, innate, and adaptive immune cells. These nontumor cells thus form the tumor microenvironment, which could be targeted and modified so that it is unfavorable for tumor cells to grow. In this review, we briefly summarized articles that had taken advantage of liposomal nanoparticles as a carrier to deliver anticancer drugs to the tumor microenvironment, and how they overcame obstacles such as nonspecific uptake, interaction with components in blood, and toxicity. Special attention is devoted to the liposomal targeting of anticancer drugs to the endothelium of tumor neovasculature, tumor associated macrophages, fibroblasts, and pericytes within the tumor microenvironment.
HubMed – drug

 

Preparation and characterization of vinculin-targeted polymer-lipid nanoparticle as intracellular delivery vehicle.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Int J Nanomedicine. 2013; 8: 39-46
Wang J, Ornek-Ballanco C, Xu J, Yang W, Yu X

Intracellular delivery vehicles have been extensively investigated as these can serve as an effective tool in studying the cellular mechanism, by delivering functional protein to specific locations of the cells. In the current study, a polymer-lipid nanoparticle (PLN) system was developed as an intracellular delivery vehicle specifically targeting vinculin, a focal adhesion protein associated with cellular adhesive structures, such as focal adhesions and adherens junctions. The PLNs possessed an average size of 106 nm and had a positively charged surface. With a lower encapsulation efficiency 32% compared with poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles (46%), the PLNs showed the sustained release profile of model drug BSA, while PLGA nanoparticles demonstrated an initial burst-release property. Cell-uptake experiments using mouse embryonic fibroblasts cultured in fibrin-fibronectin gels observed, under confocal microscope, that the anti-vinculin conjugated PLNs could successfully ship the cargo to the cytoplasm of fibroblasts, adhered to fibronectin-fibrin. With the use of cationic lipid, the unconjugated PLNs were shown to have high gene transfection efficiency. Furthermore, the unconjugated PLNs had nuclear-targeting capability in the absence of nuclear-localization signals. Therefore, the PLNs could be manipulated easily via different type of targeting ligands and could potentially be used as a powerful tool for cellular mechanism study, by delivering drugs to specific cellular organelles.
HubMed – drug

 


 

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