New anti-cancer explorations based on metal ions

Abstract

Due to the urgent demand for more anti-cancer methods, the new applications of metal ions in cancer have attracted increasing attention. Especially the three kinds of the new mode of cell death, including ferroptosis, calcicoptosis, and cuproptosis, are of great concern. Meanwhile, many metal ions have been found to induce cell death through different approaches, such as interfering with osmotic pressure, triggering biocatalysis, activating immune pathways, and generating the prooxidant effect. Therefore, varieties of new strategies based on the above approaches have been studied and applied for anti-cancer applications. Moreover, many contrast agents based on metal ions have gradually become the core components of the bioimaging technologies, such as MRI, CT, and fluorescence imaging, which exhibit guiding significance for cancer diagnosis. Besides, the new nano-theranostic platforms based on metal ions have experimentally shown efficient response to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, which realizes simultaneous cancer therapy and diagnosis through a more controlled nano-system. However, most metal-based agents have still been in the early stages, and controlled clinical trials are necessary to confirm or not the current expectations. This article will focus on these new explorations based on metal ions, hoping to provide some theoretical support for more anti-cancer ideas.

Prognosis and personalized treatment prediction in lung adenocarcinoma: An in silico and in vitro strategy adopting cuproptosis related lncRNA towards precision oncology

“… Schematic illustration indicates the mechanism of cuproptosis induction (A) ( Hu et al, 2022 ; Tsvetkov et al, 2022 ) and research design (B) . DLAT, dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase; FDX1, ferredoxin-1; Fe–S, iron–sulfur; TCA, tricarboxylic acid; GSH, Glutathione; BSO, buthionine sulfoximine; CRLncSig, cuproptosis-regulated lncRNA signature; TCGA, The Cancer Genome Atlas; LUAD, lung adenocarcinoma; HR, hazard ratio; ROC, receiver operating characteristic; TP, true positive rate; FP, false positive rate; AUC, area under the ROC curve; PC, principal component; KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; GSEA, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis.…”

Glutathione-responsive and -exhausting metal nanomedicines for robust synergistic cancer therapy

“…On the other hand, it is beneficial to introduce advanced analytical techniques that accurately measure the changes of intracellular GSH/GSSG concentrations. (IV) The metal nanomedicines show great potential for cancer therapy not only because of the capability of GSH exhaustion, but also for their wide range of other biological effects, such as interference with osmotic pressure, regulation of the immune system, and activation of biocatalysis (Hu et al, 2022). Therefore, a comprehensive exploration and assessment should be performed to elucidate the relation behind each mechanism.…”

“…Over the past few decades, metal-based nanomedicines have attracted great scientific interests. Owing to their unique physicochemical and functional properties, metal nanomedicines display enormous potential in a variety of anticancer applications, such as selective drug delivery, tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation, and combination therapy against cancer (Sharma et al, 2015;Hu et al, 2022;Pena et al, 2022).…”

Metal ions and nanometallic materials in antitumor immunity: Function, application, and perspective

“…This combination of “nanometalloimmunotherapy” shows significant potential for facilitating precise drug delivery and synergistic effects [ 11 , 12 ]. Moreover, nanometalloimmunotherapy overcomes the inherent limitations of traditional immunotherapy [ 13 ] and the drawbacks of metal ion-based antitumor therapeutics, including the short circulation time, low target selectivity, and systematic toxicity [ 14 ], exhibiting extraordinary practical potential by eliminating barriers to immunology and other fields [ 15 ].…”