Cell‐Based Bio‐Hybrid Delivery System for Disease Treatments

Abstract

Live cells are implicated in diverse biological processes, including nutrient transport and removal of foreign substances. Their intelligent biofunctions with complex mechanisms cannot be replicated at all in man‐made materials despite the significant advance in material design. Taking advantages of their biocompatibility and biotropic capability, various live cells have been developed as a kind of special carriers for the on‐demand delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents in recent years. Furthermore, synthetic materials can be integrated with live cells to provide bio‐hybrid systems that inherit advantages from both the synthetic particles and the natural cells. Herein, recent strategies and advances in cell‐based bio‐hybrid delivery systems for disease treatment are summarized. Challenges and opportunities in this field are also discussed.

Degradable Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle/Peptide-Based “Trojan Horse”-like Drug Delivery System for Deep Intratumoral Penetration and Cancer Therapy

“…To avoid the rapid clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) and the reticuloendothelial system (RES), 9,10 the surface of DDSs is often modified with "stealthy" coatings such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), 10,11 polyanions, 12,13 and cell membranes. 14,15 The particle size of DDSs is also often controlled to around 50−200 nm to prolong their circulation time for accumulation in tumors through the EPR effects. 16,17 However, the "stealthy" property can also significantly reduce their phagocytosis by cancer cells.…”

“…There is no doubt that a long circulation time in vivo and sufficient accumulation of DDS in tumors are prerequisites for the subsequent processes. To avoid the rapid clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) and the reticuloendothelial system (RES), , the surface of DDSs is often modified with “stealthy” coatings such as poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG), , polyanions, , and cell membranes. , The particle size of DDSs is also often controlled to around 50–200 nm to prolong their circulation time for accumulation in tumors through the EPR effects. , However, the “stealthy” property can also significantly reduce their phagocytosis by cancer cells. ,, The high density of cells and extracellular cellular matrix (ECM), abnormal vascular system, and high tissue interstitial pressure (IFP) in tumors make it difficult for DDS of excessive size to penetrate solid tumors, which seriously affects the therapeutic efficacy. − …”

Nanoconstruction on Living Cell Surfaces with Cucurbit[7]uril-Based Supramolecular Polymer Chemistry: Toward Cell-Based Delivery of Bio-Orthogonal Catalytic Systems

“…While the development of bio-orthogonal catalytic systems is advancing rapidly, there remains a significant scope for further exploration in selectively delivering the catalytic systems to specific anatomical sites, such as tumor tissues. − Recently, Unciti-Broceta and co-workers made a remarkable progress by harnessing cancer-derived exosomes as target-specific carriers to transport palladium catalysts specifically to progenitor cells, enabling localized prodrug activation . Motivated by this, we embark on an exploration of the potential synergy between cell-based delivery, a rapidly emerging targeting method, and bio-orthogonal catalysis. − It is proposed that the cell-based carrier could effectively transport the bio-orthogonal catalysts to specific tissues by hitchhiking, guided by the physiological functions of the transporting cells. , …”

Drug Delivery Systems with a “Tumor-Triggered” Targeting or Intracellular Drug Release Property Based on DePEGylation

“…For example, cell membranes are one kind of common “stealthy” coating, due to their functions, such as intercellular communication, bioantifouling, immune defense, etc. [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], including, but not limited to, membranes isolated from erythrocyte [ 15 , 16 ], monocyte [ 17 ], macrophage [ 18 , 19 ], neutrophil [ 20 , 21 ], lymphocyte [ 22 , 23 ], and platelet [ 24 , 25 ], which have been reported to mimic cells for DDS protection [ 10 ]. Similarly, the exosomes or extracellular vesicles derived from cells are also important “stealthy” coatings [ 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”