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Nanomedicine-Enabled/Augmented Cell Pyroptosis for Efficient Tumor Nanotherapy
Zheng Zhang1, Yajun Zhou2, Shuangshuang Zhao1
1Department of Ultrasound, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212000, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The terrible morbidity and mortality of malignant tumors urgently require innovative therapeutics, especially for apoptosis-resistant tumors. Pyroptosis, a pro-inflammatory form of programmed cell death (PCD), is featured with pore formation in plasma membrane, cell swelling with giant bubbles, and leakage of cytoplasmic pro-inflammatory cytokines, which can remodel the tumor immune microenvironment by stimulating a "cold" tumor microenvironment to be an immunogenic "hot" tumor microenvironment, and consequently augment the therapeutic efficiency of malignant tumors. Benefiting from current advances in nanotechnology, nanomedicine is extensively applied to potentiate, enable, and augment pyroptosis for enhancing cancer-therapeutic efficacy and specificity. This review provides a concentrated summary and discussion of the most recent progress achieved in this emerging field, highlighting the nanomedicine-enabled/augmented specific pyroptosis strategy for favoring the construction of next-generation nanomedicines to efficiently induce PCD. It is highly expected that the further clinical translation of nanomedicine can be accelerated by inducing pyroptotic cell death based on bioactive nanomedicines.
Insights
Nanomedicine enhances cancer therapy by inducing pyroptosis, a programmed cell death. This approach transforms cold tumors into hot ones, improving treatment efficacy for apoptosis-resistant cancers.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Nanotechnology
- Immunology
Background:
- Malignant tumors, particularly apoptosis-resistant types, necessitate novel therapeutic strategies.
- Pyroptosis, a pro-inflammatory programmed cell death (PCD), offers a promising avenue by remodeling the tumor immune microenvironment.
- Nanotechnology provides tools to potentiate pyroptosis for improved cancer treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in nanomedicine-driven pyroptosis for cancer therapy.
- To highlight nanomedicine strategies that specifically induce pyroptosis.
- To discuss the potential of nanomedicines in generating next-generation therapeutics.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on nanomedicine and pyroptosis in cancer research.
- Analysis of strategies employing nanotechnology to induce or augment pyroptosis.
- Discussion of how pyroptosis influences the tumor immune microenvironment.
Main Results:
- Nanomedicine effectively potentiates, enables, and augments pyroptosis for enhanced cancer therapy.
- Pyroptosis converts "cold" tumor microenvironments into immunogenic "hot" ones.
- Specific pyroptosis induction via nanomedicine is a key strategy for next-generation therapeutics.
Conclusions:
- Nanomedicine-enabled pyroptosis significantly enhances anti-cancer therapeutic efficacy and specificity.
- Inducing pyroptotic cell death through bioactive nanomedicines can accelerate clinical translation.
- This approach holds promise for overcoming resistance to conventional cancer therapies.
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