Synergistic Nanomedicine: Passive, Active, and Ultrasound-Triggered Drug Delivery in Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Nanocarriers are heavily researched as drug delivery vehicles capable of sequestering antineoplastic agents and then releasing their contents at the desired location. The feasibility of using such carriers stems from their ability to produce a multimodel delivery system whereby passive, ligand and triggered targeting can be applied in the fight against cancer. Passive targeting capitalizes on the leaky nature of tumor tissue which allows for the extravasation of particles with a size smaller than 0.5 µm into the tumors. Ligand targeting utilizes the concept of receptor-mediated endocytosis and involves the conjugation of ligands onto the surface of nanoparticles, while triggered targeting involves the use of external and internal stimuli to release the carriers contents upon reaching the diseased location. In this review, micelles and liposomes have been considered due to the promising results they have shown in vivo and in vitro and their potential for advancements into clinical trials. Thus, this review focuses on the most recent advancements in the field of micellar and liposomal drug delivery and considers the synergistic effect of passive- and ligand-targeting strategies, and the use of ultrasound in triggering drug release at the tumor site.

<em>Mentha arvensis</em> (Linn.)-mediated green silver nanoparticles trigger caspase 9-dependent cell death in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells

“…Cell culture was done according to the description of Barua et al7 Cells were grown in DMEM, supplemented with 10% (v/v) FBS and 1% penicillin–streptomycin solution and incubated at 37°C in a humidified 5% CO 2 incubator (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA).…”

“…SNPs synthesized using different plant extracts showed a significant cytotoxic effect on MCF7 cells,7,15,16 HeLa cells,7,17,18 NIH3T3 fibroblast cells,19 human glioblastoma cells20 and HEp2 cells 21. Further studies in this direction are essential to search for SNPs that have higher toxicity against cancer cells but lesser toxicity toward normal cells.…”

“…These methods use biological compounds such as microorganisms,3 enzymes,4 fungi,5 amino acids6 and plants or plant extracts 7. The use of biocompounds as reducing or stabilizing agents can be a possible eco-friendly alternative to chemical and physical methods.…”

“…Physicochemical properties of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) play a significant role in the field of biology and medicine. Reports are available regarding the synthesis of SNPs using various plant sources such as lingonberry and cranberry juices,9 Pistacia atlantica seeds10 and Thuja occidentalis leaf extract 7…”

Antimicrobial Properties of Diamond-Like Carbon/Silver Nanocomposite Thin Films Deposited on Textiles: Towards Smart Bandages

“…NP size analysis was preformed employing ImageJ (NIH) software and custom MATLAB (MathWorks) code. More detailed information about the applied NP analysis procedures can be found elsewhere [33,46]. Measurements of as-deposited nanocomposite thin film were performed at 3–5 different points, and average normalized surface concentrations (excluding silicon) can be found in Table 1.…”