In all living organisms, ferritins are a group of proteins important for maintaining iron homeostasis. Increasing amount of studies has shown that recombinant ferritins can be widely used in multimodal nanomedicine, especially for anticancer treatment and vaccination. Recombinant particles prepared by fusing viral proteins and ferritin subunits produce a better immune response and higher antibody titres. Moreover, actively-targeted ferritin nanoparticles can recognise receptors and deliver natural or chemical drugs specifically to the tumour tissue. In addition, ferritin-linked or loaded with contrast agents or fluorescent dyes can be used as multimodal particles useful cancer theranostics. In this review, we fully summarised the unitisation of recombinant ferritins in multimodal nanomedicine. The research progress of using recombinant ferritins as nanovaccines, nanozymes, and bioengineered nanocarriers for targeted therapy and bioimaging is emphasised.

• Klíčová slova
• Ferritin, nanocarrier, nanovaccine, nanozymes, recombinant protein,
• MeSH
• ferritin * chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• nanočástice * MeSH
• nanomedicína MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• ferritin * MeSH

A tyrosine kinase inhibitor, vandetanib (Van), is an anticancer drug affecting the signaling of VEGFR, EGFR and RET protooncogenes. Van is primarily used for the treatment of advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer; however, its usage is significantly limited by side effects, particularly cardiotoxicity. One approach to minimize them is the encapsulation or binding of Van in- or onto a suitable carrier, allowing targeted delivery to tumor tissue. Herein, we constructed a nanocarrier based on apoferritin associated with Van (ApoVan). Based on the characteristics obtained by analyzing the average size, the surface ζ-potential and the polydispersive index, ApoVan nanoparticles exhibit long-term stability and maintain their morphology. Experiments have shown that ApoVan complex is relatively stable during storage. It was found that Van is gradually released from its ApoVan form into the neutral environment (pH 7.4) as well as into the acidic environment (pH 6.5). The effect of free Van and ApoVan on neuroblastoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma cell lines revealed that both forms were toxic in both used cell lines, and minimal differences between ApoVan and Van were observed. Thus, we assume that Van might not be encapsulated into the cavity of apoferritin, but instead only binds to its surface.

• Klíčová slova
• apoferritin, cancer targeting, medullary thyroid cancer, neuroblastoma, vandetanib,
• MeSH
• apoferritiny chemie   farmakokinetika   MeSH
• chinazoliny chemie   farmakokinetika   MeSH
• koncentrace vodíkových iontů MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nanočástice chemie   MeSH
• piperidiny chemie   farmakokinetika   MeSH
• stabilita léku MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• apoferritiny MeSH
• chinazoliny MeSH
• piperidiny MeSH
• vandetanib MeSH Prohlížeč

INTRODUCTION: The present study reports on examination of the effects of encapsulating the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) vandetanib and lenvatinib into a biomacromolecular ferritin-based delivery system. METHODS: The encapsulation of TKIs was performed via two strategies: i) using an active reversible pH-dependent reassembly of ferritin´s quaternary structure and ii) passive loading of hydrophobic TKIs through the hydrophobic channels at the junctions of ferritin subunits. After encapsulation, ferritins were surface-functionalized with folic acid promoting active-targeting capabilities. RESULTS: The physico-chemical and nanomechanical analyses revealed that despite the comparable encapsulation efficiencies of both protocols, the active loading affects stability and rigidity of ferritins, plausibly due to their imperfect reassembly. Biological experiments with hormone-responsive breast cancer cells (T47-D and MCF-7) confirmed the cytotoxicity of encapsulated and folate-targeted TKIs to folate-receptor positive cancer cells, but only limited cytotoxic effects to healthy breast epithelium. Importantly, the long-term cytotoxic experiments revealed that compared to the pH-dependent encapsulation, the passively-loaded TKIs exert markedly higher anticancer activity, most likely due to undesired influence of harsh acidic environment used for the pH-dependent encapsulation on the TKIs' structural and functional properties. CONCLUSION: Since the passive loading does not require a reassembly step for which acids are needed, the presented investigation serves as a solid basis for future studies focused on encapsulation of small hydrophobic molecules.

• Klíčová slova
• drug delivery, lenvatinib, nanomedicine, vandetanib,
• MeSH
• antitumorózní látky farmakologie   MeSH
• biokompatibilní materiály chemie   MeSH
• buněčná smrt účinky léků   MeSH
• buněčné klony MeSH
• buněčné linie MeSH
• chinazoliny chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• chinoliny chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• difuze MeSH
• fenylmočovinové sloučeniny chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• ferritin chemie   MeSH
• inhibitory proteinkinas farmakologie   MeSH
• koncentrace vodíkových iontů MeSH
• koně MeSH
• kyselina listová chemie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nosiče léků chemie   MeSH
• piperidiny chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• pohyb buněk účinky léků   MeSH
• povrchové vlastnosti MeSH
• systémy cílené aplikace léků * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antitumorózní látky MeSH
• biokompatibilní materiály MeSH
• chinazoliny MeSH
• chinoliny MeSH
• fenylmočovinové sloučeniny MeSH
• ferritin MeSH
• inhibitory proteinkinas MeSH
• kyselina listová MeSH
• lenvatinib MeSH Prohlížeč
• nosiče léků MeSH
• piperidiny MeSH
• vandetanib MeSH Prohlížeč

Due to many adverse effects of conventional chemotherapy, novel methods of targeting drugs to cancer cells are being investigated. Nanosize carriers are a suitable platform for this specific delivery. Herein, we evaluated the long-term stability of the naturally found protein nanocarrier apoferritin (Apo) with encapsulated doxorubicin (Dox). The encapsulation was performed using Apo's ability to disassemble reversibly into its subunits at low pH (2.7) and reassemble in neutral pH (7.2), physically entrapping drug molecules in its cavity (creating ApoDox). In this study, ApoDox was prepared in water and phosphate-buffered saline and stored for 12 weeks in various conditions (-20°C, 4°C, 20°C, and 37°C in dark, and 4°C and 20°C under ambient light). During storage, a very low amount of prematurely released drug molecules were detected (maximum of 7.5% for ApoDox prepared in PBS and 4.4% for ApoDox prepared in water). Fourier-transform infrared spectra revealed no significant differences in any of the samples after storage. Most of the ApoDox prepared in phosphate-buffered saline and ApoDox prepared in water and stored at -20°C formed very large aggregates (up to 487% of original size). Only ApoDox prepared in water and stored at 4°C showed no significant increase in size or shape. Although this storage caused slower internalization to LNCaP prostate cancer cells, ApoDox (2.5 μM of Dox) still retained its ability to inhibit completely the growth of 1.5×104 LNCaP cells after 72 hours. ApoDox stored at 20°C and 37°C in water was not able to deliver Dox inside the nucleus, and thus did not inhibit the growth of the LNCaP cells. Overall, our study demonstrates that ApoDox has very good stability over the course of 12 weeks when stored properly (at 4°C), and is thus suitable for use as a nanocarrier in the specific delivery of anticancer drugs to patients.

• Klíčová slova
• anticancer therapy, doxorubicin-loaded apoferritin, encapsulation, long-term stability, protein nanocarriers,
• MeSH
• antitumorózní látky aplikace a dávkování   farmakokinetika   farmakologie   MeSH
• apoferritiny aplikace a dávkování   chemie   farmakokinetika   MeSH
• doxorubicin aplikace a dávkování   chemie   MeSH
• koncentrace vodíkových iontů MeSH
• léky antitumorózní - screeningové testy MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• nádory prostaty farmakoterapie   patologie   MeSH
• nosiče léků aplikace a dávkování   chemie   farmakokinetika   MeSH
• stabilita léku MeSH
• systémy cílené aplikace léků MeSH
• uvolňování léčiv MeSH
• voda chemie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antitumorózní látky MeSH
• apoferritiny MeSH
• doxorubicin MeSH
• nosiče léků MeSH
• voda MeSH