Remotely Activated Nanoparticles for Anticancer Therapy

Abstract

Cancer has nowadays become one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Conventional anticancer approaches are associated with different limitations. Therefore, innovative methodologies are being investigated, and several researchers propose the use of remotely activated nanoparticles to trigger cancer cell death. The idea is to conjugate two different components, i.e., an external physical input and nanoparticles. Both are given in a harmless dose that once combined together act synergistically to therapeutically treat the cell or tissue of interest, thus also limiting the negative outcomes for the surrounding tissues. Tuning both the properties of the nanomaterial and the involved triggering stimulus, it is possible furthermore to achieve not only a therapeutic effect, but also a powerful platform for imaging at the same time, obtaining a nano-theranostic application. In the present review, we highlight the role of nanoparticles as therapeutic or theranostic tools, thus excluding the cases where a molecular drug is activated. We thus present many examples where the highly cytotoxic power only derives from the active interaction between different physical inputs and nanoparticles. We perform a special focus on mechanical waves responding nanoparticles, in which remotely activated nanoparticles directly become therapeutic agents without the need of the administration of chemotherapeutics or sonosensitizing drugs.

Modulation of anti-angiogenic activity using ultrasound-activated nutlin-loaded piezoelectric nanovectors

“…On the other side, nanotechnology offers great tools to target and release anti-angiogenic agents in specific diseased areas [ 7 ]. Recently, an innovative approach in cancer nanomedicine has been proposed, depending upon the use of nanomaterials that can remotely respond to external remote stimulation such as ultrasound (US) [ 8 ]. In this context, piezoelectric nanomaterials presenting the ability to convert mechanical energy into electricity show interesting potentials in cancer therapy, owing to the non-invasive and wireless delivery of electrical cues able to affect cancer cell fate [ 9 ].…”

Non-Heating Alternating Magnetic Field Nanomechanical Stimulation of Biomolecule Structures via Magnetic Nanoparticles as the Basis for Future Low-Toxic Biomedical Applications

“…Bionanotechnology opens new approaches that allow drastic increases in selectivity and simultaneous increases in the effects of localization up to the nanoscale and molecular levels [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ], which also reduce the risk of organism intoxication. One of the advanced strategies is based upon functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) that are controlled by an external alternating magnetic field (AMF) [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Smart Shockwave Responsive Titania-Based Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment

“…Conventional anticancer approaches, e.g., chemotherapy and radiotherapy, show lack of selectivity causing severe side effects, besides the extremely high costs [ 6 , 7 ]. With nanomedicine, new cancer therapies emerge, based on the use of nanomaterials for the diagnosis, treatment [ 8 ] and theranostic [ 9 ]. Their benefits are related to the nanometric size, enabling their direct interaction with the cell or sub-cellular compartment.…”

“…Furthermore, nanomaterials loaded with drugs are used as nanocarriers in targeted and/or drug delivery systems [ 4 , 10 ], or directly cause cancer cells death due to their intrinsic cytotoxic properties. Recent advances propose the external stimulation of NPs by magnetic, light or ultrasound waves in order to: (i) trigger a cytotoxic response in close proximity to the cancer cells, or (ii) exploit a synergistic action between an external stimuli and the NPs (after NPs internalization) thus maximizing the NPs cytotoxic potential [ 8 ].…”

“…Until now TiO 2 NPs have been widely explored in anticancer therapies, both as drug delivery platforms and as cytotoxicity agents for cancer cells. TiO 2 NPs have been employed as radiosensitizers in radiotherapy [ 14 ] and they are frequently reported in synergism with UV light or ultrasound (US) to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) to perform photodynamic or sonodynamic therapies, respectively [ 8 , 14 , 15 ]. Recently, amorphous titania (a-TiO 2 ) NPs have emerged as an effective alternative to the TiO 2 crystalline polymorphs [ 16 , 17 ].…”