Development of natural butter-based sustaintable photosensitizer-loaded lipid pharmaceutical nanomatrix for anticancer photodynamic therapy

• Grant number: 19/23638-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2020
• End date: July 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Pharmaceutical Technology
• Agreement: CONFAP - National Council of State Research Support Foundations
• Principal Investigator: Marlus Chorilli
• Grantee: Marlus Chorilli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Maria Palmira Daflon Gremião

Abstract

Current anticancer therapies often demonstrate reduced safety and efficacy, so the development of new therapeutic approaches to cancer has been the goal of much research. In this context, activation of the host immune system against tumor antigens has received special attention as it represents a significantly safer and more effective alternative than chemotherapy and other conventional cancer treatments. As some studies have shown, this type of strategy requires the induction of cancer cell Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD), characterized mainly by apoptosis with exposure to molecular patterns associated with cell damage (DAMP). ICD is induced especially in cells under intense stress in the rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER), a condition characterized by protein synthesis arrest in this organelle that eventually follows oxidative stress, hypoglycemia, loss of calcium homeostasis, hypoxia, or other stressors events. In this context, the research group represented by Sônia Nair Bao had already developed nanoemulsions and nanocapsules that are effective inducers of ICD against cancer cells of various human or murine lineages. However, increasing production of nanomaterials for anticancer treatment and their extensive use in various industries is also known to increase the production of impurities, including remnants of toxic solvents and raw materials used. Thus, the present project aims to use green nanotechnology to reduce these unintended consequences by using common or naturally occurring reagents in the composition of nanosystems to be used as an alternative to photosensitizers already used in anticancer photodynamic therapy. The development of the proposed nanosystem, besides providing important information for the development of more efficient clinical protocols of anticancer immunotherapy, will add value to Amazonian products, encouraging the conservation of local biodiversity, since the region represents one of the greatest potentialities of Brazil today. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MELLO, VICTOR CARLOS; ARAUJO, VICTOR HUGO SOUSA; RODRIGUES DE PAIVA, KAREN LETYCIA; SIMOES, MARINA MESQUITA; MARQUES, DAFNE CAROLINE; DA SILVA COSTA, NELICE ROBERTA; DE SOUZA, ISADORA FLORENCIO; DA SILVA, PATRICIA BENTO; SANTOS, IGOR; ALMEIDA, RAQUEL; et al. Development of New Natural Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Loaded with Aluminum-Phthalocyanine for Photodynamic Therapy against Melanoma. NANOMATERIALS, v. 12, n. 20, p. 25-pg., 2022-10-01. (19/23638-7, 19/10261-2)