Abstract
Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been widely investigated in cancer therapy due to its excellent characteristics. HA, which is a linear anionic polymer, has biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-immunogenicity, non-inflammatory, and non-toxicity properties. Various HA nanomedicines (i.e., micelles, nanogels, and nanoparticles) can be prepared easily using assembly and modification of its functional groups such as carboxy, hydroxy and N-acetyl groups. Nanometer-sized HA nanomedicines can selectively deliver drugs or other molecules into tumor sites via their enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. In addition, HA can interact with overexpressed receptors in cancer cells such as cluster determinant 44 (CD44) and receptor for HA-mediated motility (RHAMM) and be degraded by a family of enzymes called hyaluronidase (HAdase) to release drugs or molecules. By interaction with receptors or degradation by enzymes inside cancer cells, HA nanomedicines allow enhanced targeting cancer therapy. In this article, recent studies about HA nanomedicines in drug delivery systems, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, diagnostics (because of the high biocompatibility), colloidal stability, and cancer targeting are reviewed for strategies using micelles, nanogels, and inorganic nanoparticles.
Highlights
In 2018, 609,940 people in the United States died of cancer, one of the leading causes of death [1]
Various drugs can be loaded into the Hyaluronic acid (HA) nanomedicine, facilitating chemotherapy, photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), MRI, and fluorescence imaging
We have reviewed the recent progress in the field of stimuli-responsive HA nanomedicines for cancer therapy and highlighted representative examples regarding the stimuli-responsive temporal and spatial drug delivery and release
Summary
In 2018, 609,940 people in the United States died of cancer, one of the leading causes of death [1]. Chemotherapy is widely used to treat many types of cancer, but the low solubility of cancer therapeutics and the side effects caused by nonselective treatment remain a barrier. To overcome these problems, targeting nanomedicine is of interest, because it utilizes the anatomical and pathophysiological abnormalities, leukemic tumor vasculature, and overexpression of specific membrane proteins [2,3]. HA contains carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, and N-acetyl groups, and can be combined with other chemicals [5] It is biocompatible, biodegradable, non-immunogenic, non-inflammatory, and non-toxic [6], and is widely used for arthritis treatment, ophthalmic surgery, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. We investigate the types, advantages, and therapeutic applications of HA nanomedicine (Figure 1)
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