Tumor microenvironment responsive nanocarriers for gene therapy

Abstract

Stimulus conditions and stimuli responsive nanocarriers in the TME for cancer gene therapy were highlighted. Some suggestions for constructing new stimuli responsive nanocarriers were recommended to improve gene delivery and enhance cancer therapy.

Fluorescent Self-Reporting Lipid Nanoparticles for Nitric Oxide/Gene Co-Delivery and Combination Therapy

“…Then, the residue was purified through silica gel column chromatography (DCM/MeOH = 10/1) to yield the pure compound 3 (2.10 g, 30.13%) as a brownish yellow powdery solid. 1 Under ice bath, sodium nitrite (0.49 g , 0.0071 mol) was added in a dichloromethane/ acetic acid solution ((DCM/AcOH = 10/1) of compound 3 (0.30 g, 0.00047 mol). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight.…”

“…After extracting three times with dichloromethane, the organic phase was concentrated under reduced pressure and purified through silica gel column chromatography (DCM/MeOH = 20/1) to yield the pure compound 4 (0.21 g, 66.88%) as a brownish yellow viscous liquid. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 400 MHz, δ): 0.85 (t, 3H, J = 6.0 Hz, CH 3 −), 1.17 6)−H). 13…”

“…Cancer is currently one of the most common causes of death worldwide. To effectively treat cancer, researchers have tried a variety of treatments including gene therapy, − chemotherapy, , radiotherapy, , and gas therapy. − As an emerging treatment, gas therapy uses gas transmitters to induce tumor cell death. Studies have found that several gas molecules, such as nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), oxygen (O 2 ), and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), could regulate the process of cancer. − Among them, NO was the first found gaseous biochemical messenger, and it played a dual role in tumor progression: low concentrations of NO might promote tumor growth, while high concentrations of NO (>1 μM) could induce tumor cell apoptosis through multiple pathways .…”

Recent Advances in DNA Nanostructure‐enabled Drug Delivery

“…modulate (inhibit, add, replace, or edit) gene expression at the DNA or RNA level to induce therapeutic effects. [39] Introducing exogenous oligonucleotides into cells is an attractive way to achieve highly specific curative therapeutic effects. However, employing oligonucleotides as therapeutics is challenging because of their susceptibility to nuclease degradation and unfavorable physicochemical characteristics which prevent facile transmission into cells.…”

“…The siRNAs can specifically inhibit the expression of target genes and thus can be used as novel antitumor therapeutic agents. [39] However, the efficiency of siRNAs for tumor targeting and gene silencing is severely limited due to their small size and poor stability in blood. To address these issues, Anderson et al employed a tetrahedral DNA nanostructure to load siRNAs and modified tumor cell targeting ligands (peptides and folates) on the DNA tetrahedra.…”