Micelles as potential drug delivery systems for colorectal cancer treatment

Abstract

Despite the significant progress in cancer therapy, colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the most fatal malignancies worldwide. Chemotherapy is currently the mainstay therapeutic modality adopted for CRC treatment. However, the long-term effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs has been hampered by their low bioavailability, non-selective tumor targeting mechanisms, non-specific biodistribution associated with low drug concentrations at the tumor site and undesirable side effects. Over the last decade, there has been increasing interest in using nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems to circumvent these limitations. Various nanoparticles have been developed for delivering chemotherapeutic drugs among which polymeric micelles are attractive candidates. Polymeric micelles are biocompatible nanocarriers that can bypass the biological barriers and preferentially accumulate in tumors via the enhanced permeability and retention effect. They can be easily engineered with stimuli-responsive and tumor targeting moieties to further ensure their selective uptake by cancer cells and controlled drug release at the desirable tumor site. They have been shown to effectively improve the pharmacokinetic properties of chemotherapeutic drugs and enhance their safety profile and anticancer efficacy in different types of cancer. Given that combination therapy is the new strategy implemented in cancer therapy, polymeric micelles are suitable for multidrug delivery and allow drugs to act concurrently at the action site to achieve synergistic therapeutic outcomes. They also allow the delivery of anticancer genetic material along with chemotherapy drugs offering a novel approach for CRC therapy. Here, we highlight the properties of polymeric micelles that make them promising drug delivery systems for CRC treatment. We also review their application in CRC chemotherapy and gene therapy as well as in combination cancer chemotherapy.

Molecular Adsorption and Physicochemical Properties at Liquid/Liquid Nanoemulsion Soft Interfaces: Effect of Charge and Hydrophobicity

“…A rule of thumb estimate is that a zeta potential value exceeding ±30 mV provides a sufficient repulsion for suitable stability of nanovesicles. 71 NEs made of BrijL4 do satisfy this criterion and have been observed to be stable in our experimental setting.…”

Nanomedicines: Emerging Platforms in Smart Chemotherapy Treatment—A Recent Review

“…These micelles exhibited strong drug-loading capacity and glutathione-triggered drug release. [177,178] Enzyme stimulus Extracellular enzymes target tumor sites due to elevated activity but are not suitable for intracellular drug release because enzyme levels in cancer and healthy cells are similar. Proteases are ideal for drug release from liposomes.…”

Development and Evaluation of a Dry Emulsion of Ostrich Oil as a Dietary Supplement

“…Emulsions characterized by significantly negative or positive zeta potentials typically demonstrate electrical stability, whereas those with lower zeta potentials tend to be susceptible to flocculation and/or coagulation, potentially compromising stability [82]. To ensure emulsion stability, zeta potential values for stable emulsions should exceed ± 30 mV, thereby mitigating the risk of deflocculation within the emulsion system [83]. Particularly noteworthy is the emulsion formulation characterized by the smallest droplet size with a zeta potential exceeding -30 mV.…”