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Review
. 2023 Mar 28;21(4):211.
doi: 10.3390/md21040211.

Chitosan Nanoparticles-Based Cancer Drug Delivery: Application and Challenges

Bhuvi Sachdeva  1 , Punya Sachdeva  2 , Arvind Negi  3 , Shampa Ghosh  2   4 , Sungsoo Han  5   6 , Saikat Dewanjee  7 , Saurabh Kumar Jha  8   9 , Rakesh Bhaskar  5 , Jitendra Kumar Sinha  2 , Ana Cláudia Paiva-Santos  10   11 , Niraj Kumar Jha  8   12   13 , Kavindra Kumar Kesari  14
Affiliations
Review

Chitosan Nanoparticles-Based Cancer Drug Delivery: Application and Challenges

Bhuvi Sachdeva et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer consisting of N-acetylglucosamine units and is primarily derived from the shells of marine crustaceans and the cell walls of organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and algae). Being a biopolymer, its materialistic properties, such as biodegradability, and biocompatibility, make it a suitable choice for biomedical applications. Similarly, its deacetylated derivative, chitosan, exhibits similar biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, making it a suitable support material for biomedical applications. Furthermore, it has intrinsic material properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antitumor. Population studies have projected nearly 12 million cancer patients across the globe, where most will be suffering from solid tumors. One of the shortcomings of potent anticancer drugs is finding a suitable cellular delivery material or system. Therefore, identifying new drug carriers to achieve effective anticancer therapy is becoming essential. This paper focuses on the strategies implemented using chitin and chitosan biopolymers in drug delivery for cancer treatment.

Keywords: anticancer agents; chitin; chitosan; nanocarriers; nanoparticles; polysaccharides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Shows the (A) chemical and (B) biological process involved in the extraction of chitin and production of chitosan from chitin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Shows some of the common causes of cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Shows passive targeting of CS nanocarriers for drug delivery against cancer cells.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The functionalization of the surface of NPs specific to the ligand is one of the critical features of active targeting. The ligand selected should be specific to the overexpressed receptor at the surface of cancer cells. The figure shows that the ligand of chitosan nanocarriers binds to the overexpressed receptor of cancer cells; after binding, the receptor-mediated endocytosis takes place, leading to the formation of the endosome, and then the dependent release of drugs will happen. Once the pill is released, the cell will proceed under apoptosis through DNA damage, translation block, and cell cycle arrest.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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