Hyaluronic Acid-Based Nanomaterials Applied to Cancer: Where Are We Now?

Abstract

Cancer cells normally develop the ability to rewire or reprogram themselves to become resistant to treatments that were previously effective. Despite progress in understanding drug resistance, knowledge gaps remain regarding the underlying biological causes of drug resistance and the design of cancer treatments to overcome it. So, resistance acquisition remains a major problem in cancer treatment. Targeted therapeutics are considered the next generation of cancer therapy because they overcome many limitations of traditional treatments. Numerous tumor cells overexpress several receptors that have a high binding affinity for hyaluronic acid (HA), while they are poorly expressed in normal body cells. HA and its derivatives have the advantage of being biocompatible and biodegradable and may be conjugated with a variety of drugs and drug carriers for developing various formulations as anticancer therapies such as micelles, nanogels, and inorganic nanoparticles. Due to their stability in blood circulation and predictable delivery patterns, enhanced tumor-selective drug accumulation, and decreased toxicity to normal tissues, tumor-targeting nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems have been shown to represent an efficacious approach for the treatment of cancer. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of some in vitro and in vivo studies related to the potential of HA as a ligand to develop targeted nanovehicles for future biomedical applications in cancer treatment.

Size-Controllable Nanosystem with Double Responsive for Deep Photodynamic Therapy

“…Considering the protective function of HA to avoid metabolic clearance in long blood circulation, the strong affinity to the CD44 receptors overexpressed on the surface of many tumor cells, and the easy degradation by hyaluronidase (HAase) in the cell to release payload [ 30 ], HA was coated on the surface of UCNP@10PCN to serve as an active targeting ligand for the enhanced endocytosis of the nanoparticles. By using coordination and electrostatic interactions, we successfully conjugated HA on the surface of UCNP@10PCN to form the UCNP@10PCN@HA (UPH) nanoparticles, which was confirmed by dynamic light scattering and infrared spectroscopy ( Figures S5 and S6 ).…”

Nanomaterials for mRNA‐based therapeutics: Challenges and opportunities

“…It has been demonstrated that dextran‐based mRNA delivery can induce high gene expression and low cytotoxicity and provide a promising strategy to treat breast cancer 192 . Hyaluronic acid, as a nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan, is composed of glucuronic acid and N ‐acetyl‐ d ‐glucosamine bound linked beta‐linkages with good bio‐compatibility and biodegradability 193 . Yan et al have found that hyaluronic acid‐based Wingless and the name Int‐1 (WNT) 16 mRNA can be delivered to human cartilage explants and antagonize canonical β‐catenin/WNT3a signaling, contributing to increased lubricin production and decreased chondrocyte apoptosis in osteoarthritis (OA) 194 .…”

“…192 Hyaluronic acid, as a nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan, is composed of glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine bound linked beta-linkages with good bio-compatibility and biodegradability. 193 Yan et al have found that hyaluronic acid-based Wingless and the name Int-1 (WNT)…”

“… 192 Hyaluronic acid, as a nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan, is composed of glucuronic acid and N ‐acetyl‐ d ‐glucosamine bound linked beta‐linkages with good bio‐compatibility and biodegradability. 193 Yan et al have found that hyaluronic acid‐based Wingless and the name Int‐1 (WNT) 16 mRNA can be delivered to human cartilage explants and antagonize canonical β‐catenin/WNT3a signaling, contributing to increased lubricin production and decreased chondrocyte apoptosis in osteoarthritis (OA). 194 Therefore, polysaccharides polymer may be a promising substitute to deliver mRNA in treating human diseases.…”

MRI Contrast Agents in Glycobiology

“…Various polysaccharides or fragments thereof, including hyaluronic acid and chitosan, are widely used as platforms for paramagnetic CAs in diagnosis and image-guided drug delivery. These topics are covered in several excellent recent reviews [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] and therefore will not be discussed in the present review. MRI using glucose-based chemical exchange saturation transfer (glucoCEST/CESL) is developing as an interesting highly sensitive and metal-free diagnostic imaging procedure.…”