bims-mricoa 2021-12-19 papers

Issue of 2021–12–19
three papers selected by
Merve Yavuz, Bilkent University

Small. 2021 Dec 15. e2104643

Engineering Bacteria and Bionic Bacterial Derivatives with Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy.

Ting Yin, Zhenying Diao, Nicholas Thomas Blum, Long Qiu, Aiqing Ma, Peng Huang.

Natural bacteria are interesting subjects for cancer treatments owing to their unique autonomy-driven and hypoxic target properties. Genetically modified bacteria (such as bacteria with msbB gene and aroA gene modifications) can effectively cross sophisticated physiological barriers and transport antitumor agents into deep tumor tissues, and they have good biosafety. Additionally, bacteria can secrete cytokines (such as interleukin-224, interferon-gamma [IFN-γ], and interleukin-1β) and activate antitumor immune responses in the tumor microenvironment, resulting in tumor inhibition. All of these characteristics can be easily utilized to develop synergistic antitumor strategies by combining bacteria-based agents with other therapeutic approaches. Herein, representative studies of bacteria-instructed multimodal synergistic cancer therapy are introduced (e.g., photothermal therapy, chemoimmunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and photocontrolled bacterial metabolite therapy), and their key advantages are systematically expounded. The current challenges and future prospects in advancing the development of bacteria-based micro/nanomedicines in the field of synthetic biology research are also emphasized, which will hopefully promote the development of related bacteria-based cancer therapies.

Keywords: bacteria; bionic bacterial derivatives; cancer; nanoparticles; treatments

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202104643

EJNMMI Res. 2021 Dec 14. 11(1): 127

Magnetic nanoparticles in theranostics of malignant melanoma.

Maxim Shevtsov, Susanne Kaesler, Christian Posch, Gabriele Multhoff, Tilo Biedermann.

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive tumor with a tendency to metastasize early and with an increasing incidence worldwide. Although in early stage, melanoma is well treatable by excision, the chances of cure and thus the survival rate decrease dramatically after metastatic spread. Conventional treatment options for advanced disease include surgical resection of metastases, chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Today, targeted kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint blockers have for the most part replaced less effective chemotherapies. Magnetic nanoparticles as novel agents for theranostic purposes have great potential in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. In the present review, we provide a brief overview of treatment options for malignant melanoma with different magnetic nanocarriers for theranostics. We also discuss current efforts of designing magnetic particles for combined, multimodal therapies (e.g., chemotherapy, immunotherapy) for malignant melanoma.

Keywords: Magnetic nanoparticles; Melanoma; SPIONs; Theranostics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13550-021-00868-6

Drug Discov Today Technol. 2020 Dec;pii: S1740-6749(21)00006-8. [Epub ahead of print]38 25-34

Recent advances in CHO cell line development for recombinant protein production.

Borbála Tihanyi, László Nyitray.

Recombinant proteins used in biomedical research, diagnostics and different therapies are mostly produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells in the pharmaceutical industry. These biotherapeutics, monoclonal antibodies in particular, have shown remarkable market growth in the past few decades. The increasing demand for high amounts of biologics requires continuous optimization and improvement of production technologies. Research aims at discovering better means and methods for reaching higher volumetric capacity, while maintaining stable product quality. An increasing number of complex novel protein therapeutics, such as viral antigens, vaccines, bi- and tri-specific monoclonal antibodies, are currently entering industrial production pipelines. These biomolecules are, in many cases, difficult to express and require tailored product-specific solutions to improve their transient or stable production. All these requirements boost the development of more efficient expression optimization systems and high-throughput screening platforms to facilitate the design of product-specific cell line engineering and production strategies. In this minireview, we provide an overview on recent advances in CHO cell line development, targeted genome manipulation techniques, selection systems and screening methods currently used in recombinant protein production.

Keywords: Biotherapeutics; Cell engineering; High-throughput screening; Producing cell line; Production optimization

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ddtec.2021.02.003