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Both chemodynamic therapy and photodynamic therapy, based on the production of reactive oxygen (ROS), have excellent potential in cancer therapy. However, the abnormal redox homeostasis in tumor cells, especially the overexpressed glutathione (GSH) could scavenge ROS and reduce the anti-tumor efficiency. Therefore, it is essential to develop a simple and effective tumor-specific drug delivery system for modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME) and achieving synergistic therapy at the tumor site. In this study, self-assembled nanoparticles (named CDZP NPs) were developed using copper ion (Cu2+), doxorubicin (Dox), zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and a trace amount of poly(2-(di-methylamino)ethylmethacrylate)–poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate]–poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethylmethacrylate) (PDMAEMA–PHB–PDMAEMA) through chelation, π–π stacking and hydrophobic interaction. These triple factor-responsive (pH, laser and GSH) nanoparticles demonstrated unique advantages through the synergistic effect. Highly controllable drug release ensured its effectiveness at the tumor site, Dox-induced chemotherapy and ZnPc-mediated fluorescence (FL) imaging exhibited the distribution of nanoparticles. Meanwhile, Cu2+-mediated GSH-consumption not only reduced the intracellular ROS elimination but also produced Cu+ to catalyze hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and generated hydroxyl radicals (˙OH), thereby enhancing the chemodynamic and photodynamic therapy. Herein, this study provides a green and relatively simple method for preparing multifunctional nanoparticles that can effectively modulate the TME and improve synergetic cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using porous hollow fiber membranes,this study illustrates a noveltechnique to continuously synthesize polymer-coated drug crystalsby antisolvent crystallization. The synthesized polymer-coated drugcrystals involve crystals of the drug Griseofulvin (GF) coated bya thin layer of the polymer Eudragit RL100. The process feed, an acetonesolution of the drug GF containing the dissolved polymer, was passedthrough the shell side of a membrane module containing many poroushollow fibers of Nylon-6. Through the lumen of the hollow fibers,the antisolvent water was passed at a higher pressure to inject waterjets through every pore in the fiber wall into the shell-side acetonefeed solution, creating an extremely high level of supersaturationand immediate crystallization. It appears that the GF crystals areformed first and serve as nuclei for the precipitation of the polymerEudragit, which forms a thin coating around the GF crystals. The polymer-coateddrug crystals were collected by a filtration device at the shell-sideoutlet of the membrane module, and the surface morphology, particlesize distribution, and the polymer coating thickness were then characterizedby scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning transmission electronmicroscopy (STEM), laser diffraction spectroscopy (LDS), and thermogravimetricanalysis (TGA). To study the properties of the coated drug crystals,X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and dissolution testswere implemented. These results indicate that a polymer-coated, free-flowingproduct was successfully developed under appropriate conditions inthis novel porous hollow fiber antisolvent crystallization (PHFAC)method. The coated drug particles can be potentially used for controlledrelease. The molecular and the crystal structures of GF were not affectedby the PHFAC method, which may be easily scaled up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous polymer coating of nanoparticlesis of interest in manyindustries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, and electronics.Here we introduce a polymer coating/precipitation technique to achievea uniform and controllable nanosize polymer coating on nanoparticlesin a continuous manner. The utility of this technique is demonstratedby coating Aerosil silica nanoparticles (SNPs) of diameter 12 nm withthe polymer Eudragit RL 100. Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic SNPswere successfully coated. After determining the cloud point of anacetone solution of the polymer containing a controlled amount ofthe nonsolvent water, the solid hollow fiber cooling crystallization(SHFCC) technique was employed to continuously coat SNPs with thepolymer. A suspension of the SNPs in an acetone–water solutionof the polymer containing a surfactant was pumped through the lumenof solid polypropylene hollow fibers in a SHFCC device; cold liquidwas circulated on the shell side. Because of rapid cooling-inducedsupersaturation and heterogeneous nucleation, precipitated polymerswill coat the nanoparticles. The thickness and morphology of the nanocoatingand the particle size distribution of the coated SNPs were analyzedby scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with electronenergy loss spectroscopy (EELS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA),and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Results indicate that uniformlypolymer-coated SNPs can be obtained from the SHFCC device after suitablepost-treatments. The technique is also easily scalable by increasingthe number of hollow fibers in the SHFCC device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, no technique is availableto continuously film coatnanosized drug particles with a polymer to produce large amounts offree-flowing coated particles. In this work, Eudragit RL 100 and poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) werechosen as the coating polymers and Cosmo 55 (550 nm silica particles)as a surrogate for drug particles. After determining the cloud pointof the polymer solutions by UV spectrophotometry, we adopted the solidhollow fiber cooling crystallization (SHFCC) technique to continuouslycoat the submicrometer particles with the polymer. In this methodthe polymer solution containing a suspension of submicrometer particlesflows in the lumen of a solid polymeric hollow fiber. Controlled coolingof the polymer solution by a coolant on the shell side of the hollowfibers allows for polymer nucleation on the surface of the particles;the precipitated polymer forms a thin film around the particles, thethickness of which can be varied depending on the operating conditions.Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersiveX-ray spectrometry, laser diffraction spectroscopy, and thermogravimetricanalysis were all used to characterize the coatings. The results indicatethat a uniformly coated and free-flowing product can be achieved underoptimized conditions in the SHFCC and suitable posttreatments. Furthermore,scale-up of the method can be easily accomplished by using a largerSHFCC module containing a much larger number of solid hollow fibers.This method is easily adaptable for coating nanosized drug particlesas well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cell death field has profited from the increasing attention of the scientific community and has been shown to lie at the very basis of cancer initiation and progression. Cuproptosis is a recently proposed method of cell death in 2022, and it is different from any previously reported method. The principle is that copper ions lead to aggregation and instability of intracellular proteins. An increasing number of researchers are dedicated to enriching the mechanism of cuproptosis and exploring its relationship with cancer. Studies have found that intracellular copper levels have an impact on the occurrence and development of lymphoma. The complexity of lymphoma and the limitations of treatment necessitate in-depth studies of the disease. We will review the mechanism of cuproptosis and its potential in lymphoma therapy., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Multimodal imaging-guided multistage targeted synergistic combination therapy possesses many advantages including increased tumoricidal effect, reduced toxicity, and retarded drug resistance. Herein, we have elaborately developed a core-interlayer-shell structure Fe 3 O 4 @mSiO 2 @lipid-PEG-methotrexatenanoparticle(FMLM), in which the Fe 3 O 4 core could be used for magnet-stimulate-response drug release, magnetic resonance imaging, and early-phase magnet targeting ability; the mSiO 2 layer could encapsulate anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox) for chemotherapy; and the protective shell of lipid-PEG and lipid-PEG-methotrexate offered later-phase specific cellular targeting ability, good water dispersibility, and loading of photosensitizer zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) for simultaneous near-infrared fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy. Both in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that the both Dox and ZnPc-loaded FMLM (Dox/ZnPc-FMLM) exhibited the enhanced tumor accumulation, increased cellular uptake, improved anticancer activity, and weaked side effects compared with Dox/ZnPc-Fe 3 O 4 @mSiO 2 @lipid-PEG nanoparticle (Dox/ZnPc-FML) and free drug. For the first time, magnet targeting cooperative with methotrexate macromolecular prodrug targeting is successfully exploited to develop a promising versatile theranostic nanoplatform for dual-modal fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging-guided combined chemo-photodynamic cancer therapy., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)