Receptor-Mediated Targeting in Breast Cancer through Solid Lipid Nanoparticles and Its Mechanism

Abstract

Nanoparticles have gained prominence in many areas and domains world-wide such as metallic NP, carbon-dots, quantum dots, polymeric NP, nano-suspension, nanocrystals, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), etc. and have been applied in the field of medicine as nanomedicine with promising results. Rise in global cancer mortality rate has been an issue since long with female breast cancer as one of the most detected cancers. No permanent treatment has been developed till date that could combat breast cancer with minimum side effects that are not long-lasting as there is not any proper technique through which the anticancer drugs can recognize benign or malignant or normal cells that causes systematic toxicity. Advancement in technology has led to the discovery of many biological pathways and mechanisms. Tumor cells or cancer cells overexpress some high-affinity receptors that can be targeted to deliver the anticancer drugs at specific site using these pathways and mechanisms. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are among some of the excellent drug delivery systems, especially stealth SLN (sSLN). SLN when conjugated with a ligand (called as sSLN) has affinity and specificity towards a specific receptor, and can deliver the drug in breast cancer cells overexpressing the receptors. Using this technique, various investigations have reported better anti-breast cancer activity than simple SLN (non-conjugated to ligand or no receptor targeting). This review includes the investigations and data on receptor-mediated targeting in breast cancer from 2010 to 2021 by searching different databases. Overall, information on SLN in different cancers are reviewed. Effectiveness of sSLN is discussed with in vivo studies, pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and stability. Investigations included in this review demonstrate that sSLN delivers the drug by overcoming the biological barriers and shows enhanced and better activity than non-conjugated SLN that also verifies that lesser concentration of drug can show anti-breast cancer activity. The efficacy of medicines could be increased with lower cancer deaths through stealth-SLN. Due to the low cost of synthesis, biocompatibility and easy to formulate, more study is needed in vitro and in vivo so that this novel technique could be utilized in the treatment of human breast cancer.

MicroRNA-nanoparticles against cancer: Opportunities and challenges for personalized medicine

“… 101 The use of stealth solid lipid nanoparticles (sSLN) has been effective in treating in vivo breast cancer, overcoming biological barriers, and ensuring a higher drug concentration in cancer cells, intensifying the anti-cancer activity. 102 The activity of alginate (Alg)-coated platinum (Pt@Alg) NPs in sensitizing breast cancer cells to radiation therapy has been reported. 103 Wang and colleagues silenced protein kinase N3 (PKN3), strongly expressed in prostate cancer cells, by developing a bioreducible, biodegradable, and ionizable lipid-based NP encapsulating shPKN3.…”

Nanomedicine-Based Drug-Targeting in Breast Cancer: Pharmacokinetics, Clinical Progress, and Challenges

“…Transferrin receptors are an example of effective drug-targeting mechanisms in receptor-based ligands. The researcher reported potential drug release systems for treating multidrug-resistant BC . Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) are also found to be overexpressed in tumors.…”

“…Immune-based nanoparticles loaded with docetaxel (DTX) reduced toxicity and precisely targeted EGFRs. Furthermore, results show intracellular drug release and enhanced drug targeting to the EGFRs in BC. , Folate receptor (FR), estrogen receptor-negative, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic progesterone receptors are expressed in 50–86% of patients. Selectivity for MDA-MB-231 cells has been established with folate-conjugated liposomes and benzoporphyrin derivatives .…”

“…The researcher reported potential drug release systems for treating multidrug-resistant BC. 28 Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) are also found to be overexpressed in tumors. The percentage of solid tumors with EGFR overexpression was determined to be 30%.…”