The Role of Nanoparticles in Tumor Treatment

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1505

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Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: nanotechnology; transdermal/topical systems; skin delivery; lipid nanoparticles; controlled release; brain drug delivery; cancer therapy; quality by design
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Dear Colleagues,

The field of oncology, nanotechnology, and biomedicine has witnessed rapid progress, leading to innovative developments in nanoparticles for safer and more effective cancer therapy. Nanoparticles predominantly fall into two categories: nanoparticles for gene therapy applications or for the delivery of small-molecule drugs for cancer treatment. They include liposome-, micelle- and protein-based nanoparticles and have biologically attractive properties such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. Nanomedicine could represent a step forward for the application of immunotherapies in clinical practices. By harnessing the potential of nanoparticles, this Special Issue aims to usher in a new era of precise and personalized cancer therapy, providing patients with individualized treatment options.

This Special Issue’s goal is the design, development, and characterization of biological nanoparticles and their therapeutic application in cancer. This Special Issue will cover the latest advances made in the last few years.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Carla Vitorino
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • nanoparticles
  • cancer therapy
  • nanotechnology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 3987 KiB  
Article
Lipopolymers as the Basis of Non-Viral Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA Nanoparticles in a Leukemia (MOLM-13) Model
by Panadda Yotsomnuk, Amarnath Praphakar Rajendran, Daniel Nisakar Meenakshi Sundaram, Luis Carlos Morales, Cezary Kucharski, Mohammad Nasrullah, Wanwisa Skolpap, Xiaoyan Jiang, Spencer B. Gibson, Joseph Brandwein and Hasan Uludağ
Biomolecules 2025, 15(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15010115 - 13 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1241
Abstract
Small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a promising strategy as the siRNA molecule can specifically target proteins involved in abnormal cell proliferation. The development of a clinically applicable method for delivering siRNA molecules is imperative due to the [...] Read more.
Small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a promising strategy as the siRNA molecule can specifically target proteins involved in abnormal cell proliferation. The development of a clinically applicable method for delivering siRNA molecules is imperative due to the challenges involved in effectively delivering the siRNA into cells. We investigated the delivery of siRNA to AML MOLM-13 cells with the use of two lipid-substituted polyethyleneimines (PEIs), a commercially available reagent (Prime-Fect) and a recently reported reagent with improved lipid substitution (PEI1.2k-PHPA-Lin9). The siRNAs utilized in this study were targeting the oncogenes FLT3 and KMT2A::MLLT3. Both lipopolymers gave similar-size siRNA complexes (210–220 nm) with positive ζ-potentials (+17 to +25 mV). While the binding efficiency of both lipopolymers to siRNA were similar, PEI1.2k-PHPA-Lin9 complexes were more resistant to heparin-induced dissociation. The quantitative analysis of gene silencing performed by qPCR as well as immunostaining/flow cytometry indicated significant reduction in both FLT3 expression and FLT3 protein after specific siRNA delivery. The desired inhibition of cell growth was attained with both FLT3 and KMT2A::MLLT3 siRNAs, and the combination provided more potent effects in both cell growth and colony formation assays. Induction of apoptosis was confirmed after specific siRNA treatments using the Annexin V assay. Using Luc(+) MOLM-13 cells, the growth of the xenografted cells was shown to be retarded with Prime-Fect-delivered FLT3 siRNA, unlike the siRNA delivered with PEI1.2k-PHPA-Lin9. These results demonstrate the potential of designed lipopolymers in implementing RNAi (via delivery of siRNA) for inhibition of leukemia growth and provide evidence for the feasibility of targeting different oncogenes using siRNA-mediated therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nanoparticles in Tumor Treatment)
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