Recent Advances in Stimuli-Sensitive Amphiphilic Polymer-Paclitaxel Prodrugs

Abstract

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a broad-spectrum chemotherapy drug employed in the treatment of a variety of tumors. However, the clinical applications of PTX are limited by its poor water solubility. Adjuvants are widely used to overcome this issue. However, these adjuvants often have side effects and poor biodistribution. The smart drug delivery system is a promising strategy for the improvement of solubility, permeability, and stability of drugs, and can promote sustained controlled release, increasing therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects. Polymeric prodrugs show great advantages for drug delivery due to their high drug loading and stability. There has been some groundbreaking work in the development of PTX-based stimulus-sensitive polymeric prodrug micelles, which is summarized in this study. We consider these in terms of the four main types of stimulus (pH, reduction, enzyme, and reactive oxygen species (ROS)). The design, synthesis, and biomedical applications of stimulus-responsive polymeric prodrugs of PTX are reviewed, and the current research results and future directions of the field are summarized.

Tetrazine bioorthogonal chemistry makes nanotechnology a powerful toolbox for biological applications

“…The prodrug strategy has been used as a powerful therapeutic strategy and has been tested in a number of clinical trials for decades. [49][50][51] This technique relies on a pretargeting design, followed by a delivery step. Pretargeting therapy is highly efficient and can dramatically reduce off-target toxicity against normal drugs and antibody-drug conjugates owing to the useful target drug delivery to specific cells and the utilization of therapeutic carriers with improved pharmacokinetics and drug conjugation technologies.…”

Construction of glutathione-responsive paclitaxel prodrug nanoparticles for image-guided targeted delivery and breast cancer therapy

“…Paclitaxel (PTX) is a broad-spectrum and highly effective anticancer drug 1,2 that stabilizes microtubules during cell division, inhibits microtubule depolymerization, and leads to tumor cell apoptosis. 3,4 As a broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel has therapeutic effects on ovarian cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, and other tumors.…”

A co-delivery system based on chlorin e6-loaded ROS-sensitive polymeric prodrug with self-amplified drug release to enhance the efficacy of combination therapy for breast tumor cells

“…PDT is an important modality of cancer treatment owing to its advantages of minimal invasiveness and modulated phototoxicity that improves the quality of life and median survival time. ( Zhou et al, 2020 ; Yi et al, 2021 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ; Zhou et al, 2022 ). PDT and chemotherapy are now emerging as new approaches to treating solid tumors.…”