The dose‐dependent cardiomyopathy of adriamycin (doxorubicin) limits its long‐term clinical use, which is revealed as a consequence of cardiomyocyte ferroptosis. As a ferrous iron (Fe2+)‐dependent regulated cell death pathway, ferroptosis is induced by the tailored lipid peroxides in the cell membranes. Herein, iron‐chelating polymer micelles are reported for concurrent doxorubicin delivery and cardiotoxicity reduction. The amphiphilic polymer consists of methoxy poly (ethylene glycol)‐co‐poly (glutamic acid) copolymer as the backbone and deferiprone analog as the side chain. The chiral polymer adopted the α‐helix conformation to enable prolonged retention in the cell membranes, resulting in efficient iron chelation, ferroptosis inhibition, and cardiotoxicity reduction. The co‐encapsulation of doxorubicin and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in micelles further alleviates the cardiotoxicity because the reduced CoQ10 can act as a radical trapping agent to constrain lipid peroxidation and cardiomyocyte ferroptosis. The reduction of cardiotoxicity is accompanied by enhanced anticancer efficacy in an in vivo murine breast cancer model. The chiral iron‐chelating polymer micelles can be a promising platform for enhanced doxorubicin delivery and reduced cardiac adverse effects.
Nanotechnology shows the power to improve efficacy and reduce the adverse effects of anticancer agents. As a quinone‐containing compound, beta‐lapachone (LAP) is widely employed for targeted anticancer therapy under hypoxia. The principal mechanism of LAP‐mediated cytotoxicity is believed due to the continuous generation of reactive oxygen species with the aid of NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). The cancer selectivity of LAP relies on the difference between NQO1 expression in tumors and that in healthy organs. Despite this, the clinical translation of LAP faces the problem of narrow therapeutic window that is challenging for dose regimen design. Herein, the multifaceted anticancer mechanism of LAP is briefly introduced, the advance of nanocarriers for LAP delivery is reviewed, and the combinational delivery approaches to enhance LAP potency in recent years are summarized. The mechanisms by which nanosystems boost LAP efficacy, including tumor targeting, cellular uptake enhancement, controlled cargo release, enhanced Fenton or Fenton‐like reaction, and multidrug synergism, are also presented. The problems of LAP anticancer nanomedicines and the prospective solutions are discussed. The current review may help to unlock the potential of cancer‐specific LAP therapy and speed up its clinical translation.
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