Rational Design of Pectin-Chitosan Polyelectrolyte Nanoparticles for Enhanced Temozolomide Delivery in Brain Tumor Therapy.

Conventional chemotherapeutic approaches currently used for brain tumor treatment have low efficiency in targeted drug delivery and often have non-target toxicity. Development of stable and effective drug delivery vehicles for the most incurable diseases is one of the urgent biomedical challenges. We have developed polymer nanoparticles (NPs) with improved temozolomide (TMZ) delivery for promising brain tumor therapy, performing a rational design of polyelectrolyte complexes of oppositely charged polysaccharides of cationic chitosan and anionic pectin.

Preparation and Characterization of Hydrogel Films and Nanoparticles Based on Low-Esterified Pectin for Anticancer Applications.

Prospective adjuvant anticancer therapy development includes the establishing of drug delivery systems based on biocompatible and biodegradable carriers. We have designed films and nanoparticles (NPs) based on low-esterified pectin hydrogel using the ionic gelation method. We investigated morphology, nanomechanical properties, biocompatibility and anticancer activity.

How to Develop Drug Delivery System Based on Carbohydrate Nanoparticles Targeted to Brain Tumors.

Brain tumors are the most difficult to treat, not only because of the variety of their forms and the small number of effective chemotherapeutic agents capable of suppressing tumor cells, but also limited by poor drug transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nanoparticles are promising drug delivery solutions promoted by the expansion of nanotechnology, emerging in the creation and practical use of materials in the range from 1 to 500 nm. Carbohydrate-based nanoparticles is a unique platform for active molecular transport and targeted drug delivery, providing biocompatibility, biodegradability, and a reduction in toxic side effects.

Preparation of Hydrogels Based on Modified Pectins by Tuning Their Properties for Anti-Glioma Therapy.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the central nervous system (CNS), characterized by low stiffness and predominance of carbohydrates on protein components, mediates limited cell proliferation and migration. Pectins are polysaccharides derived from plants and could be very promising for a tunable hydrogel design that mimics the neural ECM. Aiming to regulate gel structure and viscoelastic properties, we elaborated 10 variants of pectin-based hydrogels via tuning the concentration of the polymer and the number of free carboxyl groups expressed in the degree of esterification (DE).