Calixarenes and their Relevance in Anticancer Drug Development

Abstract

Calixarenes have always captured the attention of several researchers. They have the ability to entrap multiple molecules and form inclusion complexes with drugs due to their unique structure. Due to this property, they are being widely used in the development of several classes of drugs, most notably anticancer drugs. This review attempted to summarize the potential applications of calixarenes and its derivatives in the development of anticancer drugs, with a focus on the delivery of drug classes such as DNA intercalators, taxanes, DNA alkylators, and topoisomerase inhibitors. Calixarene-based macromolecular chemistry could therefore have a high potential for overcoming the toxicity of cancer chemotherapy and achieving targeted drug delivery.

Practical Applications of Supramolecular Macrocyclic Hosts in the Field of Herbal Medicines

“…The abundant derivatives of CAs showed diverse biomedical applications owing to the various recognition and assembly properties. [41,42] CBs, the fourth generation of macrocyclic, have a pumpkin-like structure and are mainly constructed by 5~10 glycoluril units with methylene linkages, [43] respectively, which have been successfully utilized as supramolecular catalytic reactors, drug carriers, vesicles, hydrogels, etc. [44,45] As first reported in 2008, [46] various PAs characterized by different cavity sizes (n = 5~15) have attracted significant attention due to their captivating host-guest interactions and diverse applications in areas such as drug delivery, hydrogels, separations, sensors, and catalysis.…”