Organ-like cell clusters, so-called organoids, which exhibit self-organized and similar organ functionality as the tissue of origin, have provided a whole new level of bioinspiration for ex vivo systems. Microfluidic organoid or organs-on-a-chip platforms are a new group of micro-engineered promising models that recapitulate 3D tissue structure and physiology and combines several advantages of current in vivo and in vitro models. Microfluidics technology is used in numerous applications since it allows us to control and manipulate fluid flows with a high degree of accuracy. This system is an emerging tool for understanding disease development and progression, especially for personalized therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment, which provide well-grounded, cost-effective, powerful, fast, and reproducible results. In this review, we highlight how the organoid-on-a-chip models have improved the potential of efficiency and reproducibility of organoid cultures. More widely, we discuss current challenges and development on organoid culture systems together with microfluidic approaches and their limitations. Finally, we describe the recent progress and potential utilization in the organs-on-a-chip practice.

Cancer is a commonly lethal disease that causes many deaths every year around the world. Many strategies have been applied to treat cancer, such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, but all of these therapeutic approaches are limited. Nanotechnology could provide a tremendous platform to boost the efficacy of therapeutic systems from the bench to clinical applications. The current trend of using nanomaterials for therapeutic applications is limited to drug delivery and external stimuliresponsive systems. However, several nanomaterials can reduce the growth of aggressive tumors through their self-therapeutic properties. In this review, we discuss the self-therapeutic nanomaterials that can kill cancer cells without the need for any external stimulation (heat, light, radiation, or a magnetic field) or the loading of any extra therapeutic compounds. These nanomaterials can produce reactive oxygen species, act as deoxygenating agents, or produce free radicals at tumor sites. Self-therapeutic peptide-based and other organic nanomaterials that are used to inhibit multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins, e.g., P-glycoprotein (P-gp), are also discussed. This review discusses the possible mechanisms of action of self-therapeutic nanomaterials for cancer inhibition, highlighting critical and future aspects.

Trabectedin (Yondelis, ET-743) is a marine-derived tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid. It is originally derived from the Caribbean marine tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata and currently produced synthetically. Trabectedin is active against a variety of tumor cell lines growing in culture. The present study focused on the effect of trabectedin in cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, apoptosis and spheroid formation in prostate cancer stem cells (CSCs). Cluster of differentiation (CD) 133+high/CD44+high prostate CSCs were isolated from the DU145 and PC-3 human prostate cancer cell line through flow cytometry. We studied the growth-inhibitory effects of trabectedin and its molecular mechanisms on human prostate CSCs and non-CSCs. DU-145 and PC-3 CSCs were treated with 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 nM trabectedin for 24, 48 and 72 h and the growth inhibition rates were examined using the sphere-forming assay. Annexin-V assay and immunofluorescence analyses were performed for the detection of the cell death. Concentration-dependent effects of trabectedin on the cell cycle were also evaluated. The cells were exposed to the different doses of trabectedin for 24, 48 and 72 h to evaluate the effect of trabectedin on the number and diameter of spheroids. According to the results, trabectedin induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis at the IC50 dose, resulting in a significant increase expression of caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, p53 and decrease expression of bcl-2 in dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analyses revealed that trabectedin induces dose-dependent G2/M-phase cell cycle arrest, particularly at high-dose treatments. Three-dimensional culture studies showed that trabectedin reduced the number and diameter of spheroids of DU145 and PC3 CSCs. Furthermore, we have found that trabectedin disrupted cell-cell interactions via E-cadherin in prostasphere of DU-145 and PC-3 CSCs. Our results showed that trabectedin inhibits cellular proliferation and accelerates apoptotic events in prostate CSCs; and may be a potential effective therapeutic agent against prostate cancer.

Flavopiridol is a flavone that inhibits several cyclin-dependent kinases and exhibits potent growth-inhibitory activity, apoptosis and G1-phase arrest in a number of human tumor cell lines. Flavopiridol is currently undergoing investigation in human clinical trials. The present study focused on the effect of flavopiridol in cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in prostate cancer stem cells (CSCs). Therefore, cluster of differentiation 133 (CD133)+high/CD44+high prostate CSCs were isolated from the DU145 human prostate cancer cell line. The cells were treated with flavopiridol in a dose- and time-dependent manner to determine the inhibitory effect. Cell viability and proliferation were analyzed and the efficiency of flavopiridol was assessed using the sphere-forming assay. Flavopiridol was applied to monolayer cultures of CD133high/CD44high human prostate CSCs at the following final concentrations: 100, 300, 500 and 1000 nM. The cultures were incubated for 24, 48 and 72 h. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of the drug was determined as 500 nM for monolayer cells. Dead cells were analyzed prior and subsequent to exposure to increasing flavopiridol doses. Annexin-V and immunofluorescence analyses were performed for the evaluation of apoptotic pathways. According to the results, flavopiridol treatment caused significant growth inhibition at 500 and 1000 nM when compared to the control at 24 h. G0/G1 analysis showed a statistically significant difference between 100 and 500 nM (P<0.005), 100 and 1000 nM (P<0.001), 300 and 1000 nM (P<0.001), and 500 and 1000 nM (P<0.001). Flavopiridol also significantly influenced the cells in the G2/M phase, particularly at high-dose treatments. Flavopiridol induced growth inhibition and apoptosis at the IC50 dose (500 nM), resulting in a significant increase in immunofluorescence staining of caspase-3, caspase-8 and p53. In conclusion, the present results indicated that flavopiridol could be a useful therapeutic agent for prostate CSCs by inhibiting tumor growth and malignant progression, and inducing apoptosis.

Nanosized extracellular vesicles (EVs) with dimensions ranging from 100 to 1000 nm are continuously secreted from different cells in their extracellular environment. They are able to encapsulate and transfer various biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids, that play an essential role in cell‒cell communication, reflecting a novel method of extracellular cross-talk. Since EVs are present in large amounts in most bodily fluids, challengeable hypotheses are analyzed to unlock their potential roles. Here, we review EVs by discussing their specific characteristics (structure, formation, composition, and isolation methods), focusing on their key role in cell biology. Furthermore, this review will summarize the biomedical applications of EVs, in particular those between 30 and 150 nm (like exosomes), as next-generation diagnostic tools in liquid biopsy for cancer and as novel drug delivery vehicles.