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A versatile and efficient functionalization strategy for polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) has been reported and successfully applied to PEGylated, biodegradable poly(alkyl cyanoacrylate) (PACA) nanocarriers. The relevance of this platform was demonstrated in both the fields of cancer and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Prepared by copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) and subsequent self-assembly in aqueous solution of amphiphilic copolymers, the resulting functionalized polymeric NPs exhibited requisite characteristics for drug delivery purposes: (i) a biodegradable core made of poly(alkyl cyanoacrylate), (ii) a hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) outer shell leading to colloidal stabilization, (iii) fluorescent properties provided by the covalent linkage of a rhodamine B-based dye to the polymer backbone, and (iv) surface functionalization with biologically active ligands that enabled specific targeting. The construction method is very versatile and was illustrated by the coupling of a small library of ligands (e.g., biotin, curcumin derivatives, and antibody), resulting in high affinity toward (i) murine lung carcinoma (M109) and human breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines, even in a coculture environment with healthy cells and (ii) the β-amyloid peptide 1-42 (Aβ(1-42)), believed to be the most representative and toxic species in AD, both under its monomeric and fibrillar forms. In the case of AD, the ligand-functionalized NPs exhibited higher affinity toward Aβ(1-42) species comparatively to other kinds of colloidal systems and led to significant aggregation inhibition and toxicity rescue of Aβ(1-42) at low molar ratios.

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The progressive production and subsequent accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ), a proteolytic fragment of the membrane-associated amyloid precursor protein (APP), plays a central role in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Aβ is released in a soluble form that may be responsible for cognitive dysfunction in the early stages of the disease, then progressively forms oligomeric, multimeric and fibrillar aggregates, triggering neurodegeneration. Eventually, the aggregation and accumulation of Aβ culminates with the formation of extracellular plaques, one of the morphological hallmarks of the disease, detectable post-mortem in AD brains. In this review we report the known structural features of amyloid peptides and fibrils, and we give an overview of all small molecules that have been found to interact with Aβ aggregation. Deeper knowledge of the mechanism leading to amyloid fibrils along with their molecular structure and the molecular interactions responsible for activity of small molecules could supply useful information for the design of new AD therapeutic agents.

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Cancer is one of the major causes of death worldwide. As a consequence, many different therapeutic approaches, including the use of glycosides as anticancer agents, have been developed. Various glycosylated natural products exhibit high activity against a variety of microbes and human tumors. In this review we classify glycosides according to the nature of their aglycone (non-saccharidic) part. Among them, we describe anthracyclines, aureolic acids, enediyne antibiotics, macrolide and glycopeptides presenting different strengths and mechanisms of action against human cancers. In some cases, the glycosidic residue is crucial for their activity, such as in anthracycline, aureolic acid and enediyne antibiotics; in other cases, Nature has exploited glycosylation to improve solubility or pharmacokinetic properties, as in the glycopeptides. In this review we focus our attention on natural glycoconjugates with anticancer properties. The structure of several of the carbohydrate moieties found in these conjugates and their role are described. The structure–activity relationship of some of these compounds, together with the structural features of their interaction with the biological targets, are also reported. Taken together, all this information is useful for the design of new potential anti-tumor drugs.

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