Selective Delivery of Clinically Approved Tubulin Binding Agents through Covalent Conjugation to an Active Targeting Moiety.

The efficacy and tolerability of tubulin binding agents are hampered by their low specificity for cancer cells like most clinically used anticancer agents. To improve specificity, tubulin binding agents have been covalently conjugated to agents that target cancer cells to give actively targeted drug conjugates. These conjugates are designed to increase uptake of the drug by cancer cells while having limited uptake by normal cells, thereby improving efficacy and tolerability.

β-Glucan extracts from the same edible shiitake mushroom Lentinus edodes produce differential in-vitro immunomodulatory and pulmonary cytoprotective effects - Implications for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) immunotherapies.

Coronavirus pneumonia is accompanied by rapid virus replication, where a large number of inflammatory cell infiltration and cytokine storm may lead to acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. The uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6, is associated with ARDS. This constituted the first study to report on the variability in physicochemical properties of β-glucans extracts from the same edible mushroom Lentinus edodes on the reduction of these pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress.

Optimising the delivery of tubulin targeting agents through antibody conjugation.

Despite their side effect profile, there currently remains a heavy reliance on traditional cytotoxics and particularly tubulin targeting agents in cancer chemotherapy. To address this concern, significant progress has been made in the selective delivery of drugs to the tumour site. This review will examine the published data in support of the hypothesis that forming antibody conjugates of tubulin targeting agents is an effective approach towards their more effective delivery to the tumour site.