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Glutathione-Depleting Nanomedicines for Synergistic Cancer Therapy

Xiaotong Cheng1, Hai-Dong Xu1, Huan-Huan Ran1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, 2 Sipailou Road, Nanjing 210096, P.R. China.

ACS Nano
|May 11, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Cancer cells resist drugs due to high glutathione (GSH). Depleting GSH with nanomedicines enhances cancer therapy effectiveness, offering a promising strategy for improved treatment outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Nanotechnology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Cancer cells often develop resistance to therapies, partly due to overexpression of glutathione (GSH).
  • This glutathione overexpression contributes to tumor resistance against various anticancer treatments.
  • Targeting GSH offers a potential strategy to overcome drug resistance in cancer.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review common GSH-depleting nanomedicines used in synergistic cancer treatments.
  • To discuss the application of GSH depletion as an adjunctive strategy in oncology.
  • To explore current challenges and future perspectives in GSH depletion-based cancer therapies.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent scientific literature on GSH-depleting nanomedicines.
  • Analysis of nanomedicine applications in synergistic cancer therapy.
  • Discussion of structure-property relationships and mechanisms of action.

Main Results:

  • GSH-depleting agents, when formulated as nanomedicines, show significant potential in enhancing cancer cell responses to therapies.
  • These nanomedicines are increasingly used in combination with mainstream cancer treatments.
  • Understanding biomaterial properties is key to optimizing GSH-depleting nanotechnology.

Conclusions:

  • GSH depletion is a viable strategy to enhance cancer therapy outcomes.
  • Nanotechnology provides effective platforms for developing GSH-depleting agents.
  • Further development of GSH-depleting nanotechnology holds promise for clinical translation and improved cancer treatment.
Keywords:
drug resistanceglutathioneglutathione-depleting agentsmultimodal therapynanodrugreactive oxygen speciesredox modulationtumor microenvironment

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