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The applications of hydrogels in biomedical field has been since multiple decades. Discoveries in biology and chemistry render this platform endowed with much engineering potentials and growing continuously. Novel approaches in constructing these materials have led to the production of complex hybrid hydrogels systems that can incorporate both natural and synthetic polymers and other functional moieties for mediated cell response, tunable release kinetic profiles, thus they are used and research for diverse biomedical applications. Recent advancement in this field has established promising techniques for the development of biorelevant materials for construction of hybrid hydrogels with potential applications in the delivery of cancer therapeutics, drug discovery, and re-generative medicines. In this review, recent trends in advanced hybrid hydrogels systems incorporating nano/microstructures, their synthesis, and their potential applications in tissue engineering and anticancer drug delivery has been discussed. Examples of some new approaches including click reactions implementation, 3D printing, and photopatterning for the development of these materials has been briefly discussed. In addition, the application of biomolecules and motifs for desired outcomes, and tailoring of their transport and kinetic behavior for achieving desired outcomes in hybrid nanogels has also been reviewed.

Targeting pathogenic proteins with small-molecule inhibitors (SMIs) has become a widely used strategy for treating malignant tumors. However, most intracellular proteins have been proven to be undruggable due to a lack of active sites, leading to a significant challenge in the design and development of SMIs. In recent years, the proteolysis-targeting chimeric technology and related emerging degradation technologies have provided additional approaches for targeting these undruggable proteins. These degradation technologies show a tendency of superiority over SMIs, including the rapid and continuous target consumption as well as the stronger pharmacological effects, being a hot topic in current research. This review mainly focuses on summarizing the development of protein degradation technologies in recent years. Their advantages, potential applications, and limitations are also discussed. We hope this review would shed light on the design, discovery, and clinical application of drugs associated with these degradation technologies.

Trichostatin A (TSA) possess histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory potential, can reverse the deactivation of tumor suppressor genes and inhibit tumor cell proliferation. We evaluated the effect of TSA on HDAC expression, tumor cell proliferation, and cancer stem cells (CSCs) activities in pancreatic ductal adenocarnoma (PDAC) cells. The PDAC cell lines MiaPaCa-2 and PANC-1 were distinctly sensitive to TSA, with enhanced apoptosis, compared to SAHA. TSA or SAHA inhibited vimentin, HDACs 1, 7 and 8, upregulated E-cadherin mRNA and protein levels in the PDAC cells, and time-dependently downregulated Oct-4, Sox-2, and Nanog, as well as inhibited PDAC tumorsphere formation. TSA also induces accumulation of acetylated histones, while increasing histone 3 lysine 4 or 9 dimethylation levels in PDAC cells and enhancing the epigenetic activity of SAHA. The anti-CSCs effect of TSA was like that obtained by silencing HDAC-1 or 7 using siRNA, and enhances Gemcitabine activity. Our study highlights the molecular targetability of HDACs 1, 7, and 8, confirm their PDAC-CSCs maintaining role, and demonstrate that compared to SAHA, TSA modulates the epigenetically- mediated oncogenic activity of PDAC-CSCs, and potentiate Gemcitabine therapeutic activity, making a case for further exploration of TSA activity alone or in combination with Gemcitabine in PDAC therapy.

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies in the world and developed drug resistance has represented one of the most challenging tasks for management. The current therapeutic regimens may select and enrich cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) resulting in the increased resistance against treatment, metastatic potential and mortality. Regorafenib is a multi-kinase inhibitor, an FDA-approved last-of-line treatment for patients with chemo-refractory metastatic CRC. However, regorafenib’s potential effects on CSCs have not been fully elucidated.MethodsHere, we developed two 5-FU resistant CRC cell lines, HCT-116R and DLD-1R and showed the increased CSCs characteristics such as increased side-population cells, tumor sphere formation and expression of stemness markers. These cell lines and CSCs properties were used for evaluating the potential of regorafenib in suppressing CSCs.ResultsWe showed that regorafenib treatment decreased the stemness phenotypes including tumor sphere formation, and side-population, of both HCT-116R and DLD-1R cells. Additionally, regorafenib suppressed the cell viability in both cell lines synergistically with 5-FU. In vivo, the combination of regorafenib and 5-FU significantly suppressed the tumorigenesis and stemness markers of 5-FU resistant DLD-1R. Mechanistically, regorafenib-mediated effects were associated with the induction of tumor suppressor miR-34a and suppression of WNT/β-catenin signaling. Our findings demonstrated that regorafenib treatment was associated with the increased level of miR-34a, resulting in reversing drug resistance and cancer-initiating cell phenotypes by degrading WNT/β-catenin in CRC.ConclusionRegorafenib might be a potential drug for colon cancer stem-like cells and it should be investigated in future clinical trials.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-018-0836-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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