No abstract

Despite being a mainstay of clinical cancer treatment, chemotherapy is limited by its severe side effects and inherent or acquired drug resistance. Nanotechnology-based drug-delivery systems are widely expected to bring new hope for cancer therapy. These systems exploit the ability of nanomaterials to accumulate and deliver anticancer drugs at the tumor site via the enhanced permeability and retention effect. Here, we established a novel drug-delivery nanosystem based on amphiphilic peptide dendrimers (AmPDs) composed of a hydrophobic alkyl chain and a hydrophilic polylysine dendron with different generations (AmPD KK2 and AmPD KK2K4). These AmPDs assembled into nanoassemblies for efficient encapsulation of the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). The AmPDs/DOX nanoformulations improved the intracellular uptake and accumulation of DOX in drug-resistant breast cancer cells and increased permeation in 3D multicellular tumor spheroids in comparison with free DOX. Thus, they exerted effective anticancer activity while circumventing drug resistance in 2D and 3D breast cancer models. Interestingly, AmPD KK2 bearing a smaller peptide dendron encapsulated DOX to form more stable nanoparticles than AmPD KK2K4 bearing a larger peptide dendron, resulting in better cellular uptake, penetration, and anti-proliferative activity. This may be because AmPD KK2 maintains a better balance between hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity to achieve optimal self-assembly, thereby facilitating more stable drug encapsulation and efficient drug release. Together, our study provides a promising perspective on the design of the safe and efficient cancer drug-delivery nanosystems based on the self-assembling amphiphilic peptide dendrimer.

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Twenty novel talmapimod analogues were designed, synthesised and evaluated for the in vivo anti-inflammatory activities. Among them, compound 6n, the most potent one, was selected for exploring the mechanisms underlying its anti-inflammatory efficacy. In RAW264.7 cells, it effectively suppressed lipopolysaccharides-induced (LPS-induced) expressions of iNOS and COX-2. As illustrated by the western blot analysis, 6n downregulated both the NF-jB signalling and p38 MAPK phosphorylation. Further enzymatic assay identified 6n as a potent inhibitor against both p38a MAPK (IC 50 ¼1.95 mM) and COX-2 (IC 50 ¼0.036 mM). By virtue of the concomitant inhibition of p38a MAPK, its upstream effector, and COX-2, along with its capability to downregulate NF-jB and MAPK-signalling pathways, 6n, a polypharmacological anti-inflammatory agent, deserves further development as a novel anti-inflammatory drug.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based therapeutics represent a novel and compelling drug modality, provided that safe and competent vectors are available for their delivery. Here, we report a biodegradable amphiphilic poly(aminoester)...

No abstract

Macrophages, as ubiquitous and functionally diverse immune cells, play a central role in innate immunity and initiate adaptive immunity. Especially, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are crucial contributors to the tumorigenesis and development of cancer. Thus, macrophages are emerging potential targets for cancer treatment. Among the numerous targeted therapeutic options, gene therapy is one of the most potential therapeutic strategies via directly and specifically regulating biological functions of macrophages at the gene level for cancer treatment. This short review briefly introduces the characteristics of macrophage populations, the functions of TAM in the occurrence, and the progress of cancer. It also summarized some representative examples to highlight the current progress in TAM-targeted gene therapy. The review hopes to provide new insights into macrophage-targeted gene therapy for precision cancer therapy.

A novel structural series of tetrahydroisoquinoline-based compounds that incorporate the diaryl urea moiety was designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated as suppressors of VEFGR-2 signaling. As a consequence, compounds 9k and 9s exhibited comparable or superior cytotoxic activity to that of gefitinib against the tested three cell lines, including A549, MCF-7, and PC-3. Importantly, both of them downregulated the expression of VEGFR-2, and inhibited VEGFR-2 phosphorylation at the concentration of 0.5 or 1.0 μmol/l. Besides, they suppressed human umbilical vein endothelial cell tube formation at the concentration of 4.0 μmol/l. Considering their capability of down-regulating VEGFR-2 expression and inhibiting VEGFR-2 phosphorylation, 9k and 9s may serve as suppressors of angiogenesis for further investigation. Anti-