Orza Anamaria, Casciano Daniel, Biris Alexandru
Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock , Little Rock, AR , USA.
Drug Metab Rev. 2014 May;46(2):191-206. doi: 10.3109/03602532.2014.900566. Epub 2014 Apr 4.
Recent developments in cancer biology have identified the existence of a sub-poplulation of cells - cancer stem cells (CSC) that are resistant to most traditional therapies (e.g. chemotherapy and radiotherapy) and have the ability to repair their damaged DNA. These findings have necessitated a break with traditional oncology management and encouraged new perspectives concerning cancer treatment. Understanding the functional biology of CSCs - especially the signaling pathways that are involved in their self-renewal mechanisms - is crucial for discovering new forms of treatment. In this review, we highlight current and future prospects for potential cancer therapies based on the use of nano-sized materials. Nanomaterials could revolutionize cancer management because of their distinctive features - unique surface chemistry, strong electronic, optic, and magnetic properties - that are found neither in bulk materials nor in single molecules. Based on these distinct properties, we believe that nanomaterials could be excellent candidates for use in CSC research in order to optimize cancer therapeutics. Moreover, we propose these nanomaterials for the inhibition of the self-renewal pathways of CSCs by focusing on the Hedgehog, Notch, and Wnt/β-catenin self-renewal mechanisms. By introducing these methods for the detection, targeting, and destruction of CSCs, an efficient alternative treatment for the incurable disease of cancer could be provided.
癌症生物学的最新进展已证实存在一类细胞亚群——癌症干细胞（CSC），它们对大多数传统疗法（如化疗和放疗）具有抗性，并且有能力修复受损的DNA。这些发现使得必须打破传统的肿瘤学治疗模式，并催生了关于癌症治疗的新观点。了解癌症干细胞的功能生物学——尤其是涉及其自我更新机制的信号通路——对于发现新的治疗形式至关重要。在本综述中，我们重点介绍了基于纳米材料应用的潜在癌症治疗方法的现状和未来前景。纳米材料因其独特的特性——独特的表面化学性质、强大的电子、光学和磁性——而可能彻底改变癌症治疗模式，这些特性在块状材料和单个分子中均未发现。基于这些独特性质，我们认为纳米材料可能是用于癌症干细胞研究以优化癌症治疗的理想候选材料。此外，我们提议通过关注刺猬信号通路、Notch信号通路和Wnt/β-连环蛋白自我更新机制，利用这些纳米材料抑制癌症干细胞的自我更新通路。通过引入这些检测、靶向和破坏癌症干细胞的方法，可以为这种无法治愈的疾病——癌症提供一种有效的替代治疗方法。
