Nanotechnology to Counter the Off-Target Toxicity of Therapeutics

A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanomedicine and Nanobiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2024) | Viewed by 6931

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
Interests: custom synthesis of metal/porous nanoparticles; nanotoxicology; biomedical image contrast agents; precision nanoprobes; molecular nanotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanotechnology has revolutionized treatment regimens by replacing them with ones that are more effective, less toxic, and positively impact survival. Nanotechnology has been used to treat diseases, promote wellness, and reduce health disparities by developing new tools to understand human variability at the molecular and cellular levels.

In efforts to improve the efficacy of diagnostic assays and therapeutic agents, precise molecular recognition of disease-specific markers remains a major hurdle. Achieving only ‘On-Target’ therapeutics will also require technologies beyond this one-size-fits-all approach. Nanotechnology enables innovations in the development of instrumentation, imaging modalities, and spectroscopic techniques to support and empower these approaches, enabling bias-free routes to achieve a holistic understanding and treatment of disease states with spatiotemporal precision. Point-of-use platforms seek to bring bioanalytical assays to the individual, thus, enhancing the speed with which results are available to caregivers, to exert rapid changes in treatment regimens, to benefit their patients’ health and wellness. Seminal advances in the miniaturization of instrumentation have led to a growing range of smart, accurate, and low-powered biomedical devices and portable biomolecular diagnostics, with the ultimate goal of rendering sensors capable of personalized bioassays, supporting therapies targeted to the individual.

This Special Issue aims to highlight nanotechnology-enabled precision therapeutics/therapies or nanotechnology-based analytical platforms to guide therapeutic regimens to benefit all populations

Dr. Prakash D. Nallathamby
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 10747 KiB  
Article
Biological Effects of Small Sized Graphene Oxide Nanosheets on Human Leukocytes
by Michele Aventaggiato, Federica Valentini, Daniela Caissutti, Michela Relucenti, Marco Tafani, Roberta Misasi, Alessandra Zicari, Sara Di Martino, Sara Virtuoso, Anna Neri and Stefania Mardente
Biomedicines 2024, 12(2), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12020256 - 23 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1472
Abstract
Since the discovery of graphene, there has been a wide range of the literature dealing with its versatile structure and easy binding of biomolecules as well as its large loading capacity. In the emerging field of immunotherapy, graphene and its derivatives have potential [...] Read more.
Since the discovery of graphene, there has been a wide range of the literature dealing with its versatile structure and easy binding of biomolecules as well as its large loading capacity. In the emerging field of immunotherapy, graphene and its derivatives have potential uses as drug delivery platforms directly into tumour sites or as adjuvants in cancer vaccines, as they are internalized by monocytes which in turn may activate adaptive anti-tumoral immune responses. In this study, we expose cells of the innate immune system and a human acute monocytic leukemia cell line (THP-1) to low doses of small-sized GO nanosheets functionalized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), to study their acute response after internalization. We show by flow cytometry, uptake in cells of GO-BSA-FITC reaches 80% and cell viability and ROS production are both unaffected by exposure to nanoparticles. On the contrary, GO-BSA nanosheets seem to have an inhibitory effect on ROS production, probably due to their antioxidant properties. We also provided results on chemotaxis of macrophages derived from peripheral blood monocytes treated with GO-BSA. In conclusion, we showed the size of nanosheets, the concentration used and the degree of functionalization were important factors for biocompatibility of GO in immune cells. Its low cytotoxicity and high adaptability to the cells of the innate immune system make it a good candidate for deployment in immunotherapy, in particular for delivering protein antigens to monocytes which activate adaptive immunity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnology to Counter the Off-Target Toxicity of Therapeutics)
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Review

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23 pages, 1252 KiB  
Review
Nab-Paclitaxel in the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Cancers—Improvements in Clinical Efficacy and Safety
by Md Sazzad Hassan, Niranjan Awasthi, Saisantosh Ponna and Urs von Holzen
Biomedicines 2023, 11(7), 2000; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11072000 - 15 Jul 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4828
Abstract
Taxanes (paclitaxel and docetaxel) are one of the most useful classes of anticancer drugs. Taxanes are highly hydrophobic; therefore, these drugs must be dissolved in organic solvents (polysorbate or Cremophor EL), which contribute to their toxicities. To reduce this toxicity and to enhance [...] Read more.
Taxanes (paclitaxel and docetaxel) are one of the most useful classes of anticancer drugs. Taxanes are highly hydrophobic; therefore, these drugs must be dissolved in organic solvents (polysorbate or Cremophor EL), which contribute to their toxicities. To reduce this toxicity and to enhance their efficacy, novel formulations have been developed. Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) is an albumin-stabilized, Cremophor-free, and water-soluble nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel. Nab-paclitaxel has better solubility and less infusion-associated toxicity compared to solvent-based paclitaxel. Additionally, nab-paclitaxel can be given at higher doses and concentrations compared with solvent-based paclitaxel. Based on its superior clinical efficacy and safety profile, nab-paclitaxel received FDA approval for metastatic breast cancer (2008) and NSCLC (2011). Among gastrointestinal cancers, it is now approved in the USA for treating patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas as first-line therapy in combination with gemcitabine. Furthermore, several clinical trials have suggested the potential efficacy of nab-paclitaxel as a single agent or in combination with other agents for the treatment of metastatic esophageal, gastric, bowel, and biliary tract cancers. Nab-paclitaxel has been demonstrated to have greater overall response rates (ORR) with enhanced progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and a superior safety profile with fewer adverse effects in patients with gastrointestinal tract cancers. This review summarizes the advantages associated with nab-paclitaxel-based regimens in terms of improving clinical efficacy and the safety profile in upper gastrointestinal cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnology to Counter the Off-Target Toxicity of Therapeutics)
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