Poly(Ferulic Acid) with an Anticancer Effect as a Drug Nanocarrier for Enhanced Colon Cancer Therapy

Abstract

As colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer‐related death worldwide, colorectal cancer therapy requires new strategies for improved therapeutic effects. Recently, nanodrug carriers have emerged to weaken the systemic toxicity of chemotherapy drugs and strengthen the treatment effectiveness against colorectal cancer. In this report, ferulic acid, a plant derivative, is polycondensed into poly(ferulic acid) (PFA) for the first time to serve as an excellent drug carrier with anticancer performance. PFA self‐assembles into nanoparticles by nanoprecipitation, and the screened PFA nanoparticles (NPs) have a diameter of ≈100 nm and possess a reasonable drug‐loading capacity of ≈8.3% of paclitaxel (PTX). Evaluation of CT26 cells and a corresponding mouse model indicates remarkable inhibition of colon cancer with PTX‐loaded PFA nanoparticles (PFA@PTX NPs) treatment both in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, evaluation of blank PFA NPs in a tumor mouse model also shows tumor inhibition, confirming that PFA itself has an anticancer effect in vivo. Overall, the novel nanoparticles based on poly(ferulic acid) can not only effectively deliver chemodrugs but also provide additional anticancer therapeutic effects, providing a promising platform for clinical colon cancer therapy.

Self-assembled polymeric nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery of metformin and doxorubicin for melanoma therapy

“…Based on these potentials, we believe that our FCA NPs possess less protein crowns on their surfaces. Meanwhile, similar results were observed in other studies, confirming that the sizes of NPs are stable within the serum (Zheng et al., 2019 ; York et al., 2012 ).…”

Self-assembled polymeric nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery of metformin and doxorubicin for melanoma therapy

“…Based on these potentials, we believe that our FCA NPs possess less protein crowns on their surfaces. Meanwhile, similar results were observed in other studies, confirming that the sizes of NPs are stable within the serum (Zheng et al., 2019 ; York et al., 2012 ).…”

Inflammation‐Targeted and Antioxidative Poly(Ferulic Acid) Nanoparticles Directly Treat Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis via Inhibiting Pyroptosis by Disrupting Nrf2/KEAP1 Multimer Formation and as a Robust Drug Carrier

“…The PFA polymer was developed through a one‐step polycondensation process using ferulic acid as the monomer in our previous study, which has demonstrated drug delivery capability and self‐therapeutic activity ( Figure A). [ 21 ] Herein, we further investigated the therapeutic potential of PFA alone and in combination with an anti‐inflammatory drug for the treatment of CNP. First, the chemical structure of the PFA polymer was confirmed by 1 H‐NMR (Figure 1B).…”

Lyophilizable Polymer–Lipid Hybrid Nanoparticles with High Paclitaxel Loading

“…To achieve lyophilizable nanoparticles with high stability and drug-loading capacity, DSPE-PEG, commonly employed in liposome construction for lyophilization, was introduced to formulate hybrid diPTX-SS nanoparticles, leveraging the advantages of PLGA-PEG in nanoparticle loading and stability. Such a lipid–polymer drug-delivery system has been demonstrated to be superior in drug loading and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. − Since PLGA-PEG nanoparticles achieved high loading capacity and good stability, hybrid diPTX-SS nanoparticles with varying PLGA-PEG:DSPE-PEG ratios (1:0, 0.75:0.25, 0.5:0.5, 0.25:0.75, and 0:1) were prepared at a consistent loading capacity of 67 wt %. As illustrated in Figure a, there was a narrow size distribution of diPTX-SS loaded polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles with a loading capacity of 67 wt %, ranging in size from 120.3 ± 2.3 to 145.4 ± 2.4 nm.…”

Self-assembled polymeric nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery of metformin and doxorubicin for melanoma therapy

“…Based on these potentials, we believe that our FCA NPs possess less protein crowns on their surfaces. Meanwhile, similar results were observed in other studies, confirming that the sizes of NPs are stable within the serum (Zheng et al., 2019 ; York et al., 2012 ).…”

Inflammation‐Targeted and Antioxidative Poly(Ferulic Acid) Nanoparticles Directly Treat Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis via Inhibiting Pyroptosis by Disrupting Nrf2/KEAP1 Multimer Formation and as a Robust Drug Carrier

“…The PFA polymer was developed through a one‐step polycondensation process using ferulic acid as the monomer in our previous study, which has demonstrated drug delivery capability and self‐therapeutic activity ( Figure A). [ 21 ] Herein, we further investigated the therapeutic potential of PFA alone and in combination with an anti‐inflammatory drug for the treatment of CNP. First, the chemical structure of the PFA polymer was confirmed by 1 H‐NMR (Figure 1B).…”

Lyophilizable Polymer–Lipid Hybrid Nanoparticles with High Paclitaxel Loading

“…To achieve lyophilizable nanoparticles with high stability and drug-loading capacity, DSPE-PEG, commonly employed in liposome construction for lyophilization, was introduced to formulate hybrid diPTX-SS nanoparticles, leveraging the advantages of PLGA-PEG in nanoparticle loading and stability. Such a lipid–polymer drug-delivery system has been demonstrated to be superior in drug loading and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. − Since PLGA-PEG nanoparticles achieved high loading capacity and good stability, hybrid diPTX-SS nanoparticles with varying PLGA-PEG:DSPE-PEG ratios (1:0, 0.75:0.25, 0.5:0.5, 0.25:0.75, and 0:1) were prepared at a consistent loading capacity of 67 wt %. As illustrated in Figure a, there was a narrow size distribution of diPTX-SS loaded polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles with a loading capacity of 67 wt %, ranging in size from 120.3 ± 2.3 to 145.4 ± 2.4 nm.…”

Self-assembled polymeric nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery of metformin and doxorubicin for melanoma therapy

“…Based on these potentials, we believe that our FCA NPs possess less protein crowns on their surfaces. Meanwhile, similar results were observed in other studies, confirming that the sizes of NPs are stable within the serum (Zheng et al., 2019 ; York et al., 2012 ).…”

Inflammation‐Targeted and Antioxidative Poly(Ferulic Acid) Nanoparticles Directly Treat Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis via Inhibiting Pyroptosis by Disrupting Nrf2/KEAP1 Multimer Formation and as a Robust Drug Carrier

“…The PFA polymer was developed through a one‐step polycondensation process using ferulic acid as the monomer in our previous study, which has demonstrated drug delivery capability and self‐therapeutic activity ( Figure A). [ 21 ] Herein, we further investigated the therapeutic potential of PFA alone and in combination with an anti‐inflammatory drug for the treatment of CNP. First, the chemical structure of the PFA polymer was confirmed by 1 H‐NMR (Figure 1B).…”

Lyophilizable Polymer–Lipid Hybrid Nanoparticles with High Paclitaxel Loading

“…To achieve lyophilizable nanoparticles with high stability and drug-loading capacity, DSPE-PEG, commonly employed in liposome construction for lyophilization, was introduced to formulate hybrid diPTX-SS nanoparticles, leveraging the advantages of PLGA-PEG in nanoparticle loading and stability. Such a lipid–polymer drug-delivery system has been demonstrated to be superior in drug loading and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. − Since PLGA-PEG nanoparticles achieved high loading capacity and good stability, hybrid diPTX-SS nanoparticles with varying PLGA-PEG:DSPE-PEG ratios (1:0, 0.75:0.25, 0.5:0.5, 0.25:0.75, and 0:1) were prepared at a consistent loading capacity of 67 wt %. As illustrated in Figure a, there was a narrow size distribution of diPTX-SS loaded polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles with a loading capacity of 67 wt %, ranging in size from 120.3 ± 2.3 to 145.4 ± 2.4 nm.…”