Nanomedicines Targeting Metabolism in the Tumor Microenvironment

Mengdi Ren; Xiaoqiang Zheng; Huan Gao; Aimin Jiang; Yu Yao; Wangxiao He

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2022.943906

Nanomedicines Targeting Metabolism in the Tumor Microenvironment

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Aug 5:10:943906. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.943906. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mengdi Ren¹, Xiaoqiang Zheng², Huan Gao¹, Aimin Jiang¹, Yu Yao¹, Wangxiao He³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
² Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
³ Department of Talent Highland, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Cancer cells reprogram their metabolism to meet their growing demand for bioenergy and biosynthesis. The metabolic profile of cancer cells usually includes dysregulation of main nutritional metabolic pathways and the production of metabolites, which leads to a tumor microenvironment (TME) having the characteristics of acidity, hypoxic, and/or nutrient depletion. Therapies targeting metabolism have become an active and revolutionary research topic for anti-cancer drug development. The differential metabolic vulnerabilities between tumor cells and other cells within TME provide nanotechnology a therapeutic window of anti-cancer. In this review, we present the metabolic characteristics of intrinsic cancer cells and TME and summarize representative strategies of nanoparticles in metabolism-regulating anti-cancer therapy. Then, we put forward the challenges and opportunities of using nanoparticles in this emerging field.

Keywords: cancer treatment; metabolic reprograming; metabolism; nanomedicine; tumor microenvironment.

Publication types

Review