Nanomedicine: Photo-activated nanostructured titanium dioxide, as a promising anticancer agent

Nefeli Lagopati; Konstantinos Evangelou; Polycarpos Falaras; Effie-Photini C Tsilibary; Panagiotis V S Vasileiou; Sofia Havaki; Andriani Angelopoulou; Evangelia A Pavlatou; Vassilis G Gorgoulis

doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107795

Nanomedicine: Photo-activated nanostructured titanium dioxide, as a promising anticancer agent

Pharmacol Ther. 2021 Jun:222:107795. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107795. Epub 2020 Dec 24.

Authors

Nefeli Lagopati¹, Konstantinos Evangelou², Polycarpos Falaras³, Effie-Photini C Tsilibary⁴, Panagiotis V S Vasileiou⁵, Sofia Havaki⁶, Andriani Angelopoulou⁵, Evangelia A Pavlatou⁷, Vassilis G Gorgoulis⁸

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, Mikras Asias Str., Goudi, GR 11527 Athens, Greece; Laboratory of General Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 9, Iroon Polytechniou str., GR 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: nlagopati@med.uoa.gr.
² Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, Mikras Asias Str., Goudi, GR 11527 Athens, Greece. Electronic address: cnevagel@med.uoa.gr.
³ Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Laboratory of Nanotechnology Processes for Solar Energy Conversion and Environmental Protection, National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Patriarchou Gregoriou E & 27 Neapoleos Str., GR 15341 Agia Paraskevi, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: p.falaras@inn.demokritos.gr.
⁴ Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: tsili001@umn.edu.
⁵ Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, Mikras Asias Str., Goudi, GR 11527 Athens, Greece.
⁶ Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, Mikras Asias Str., Goudi, GR 11527 Athens, Greece. Electronic address: shavaki@med.uoa.gr.
⁷ Laboratory of General Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 9, Iroon Polytechniou str., GR 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: pavlatou@chemeng.ntua.gr.
⁸ Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, Mikras Asias Str., Goudi, GR 11527 Athens, Greece; Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece; Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Manchester Cancer Research Centre, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Center for New Biotechnologies and Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: vgorg@med.uoa.gr.

PMID: 33358928
DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107795

Abstract

The multivariate condition of cancer disease has been approached in various ways, by the scientific community. Recent studies focus on individualized treatments, minimizing the undesirable consequences of the conventional methods, but the development of an alternative effective therapeutic scheme remains to be held. Nanomedicine could provide a solution, filling this gap, exploiting the unique properties of innovative nanostructured materials. Nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has a variety of applications of daily routine and of advanced technology. Due to its biocompatibility, it has also a great number of biomedical applications. It is now clear that photo-excited TiO₂ nanoparticles, induce generation of pairs of electrons and holes which react with water and oxygen to yield reactive oxygen species (ROS) that have been proven to damage cancer cells, triggering controlled cellular processes. The aim of this review is to provide insights into the field of nanomedicine and particularly into the wide context of TiO₂-NP-mediated anticancer effect, shedding light on the achievements of nanotechnology and proposing this nanostructured material as a promising anticancer photosensitizer.

Keywords: Anticancer properties; Nanomedicine; Nanostructured materials; Photocatalysis; Titanium dioxide.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Antineoplastic Agents* / pharmacology
Humans
Nanomedicine
Nanostructures
Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Photosensitizing Agents* / pharmacology
Reactive Oxygen Species
Titanium* / pharmacology

Substances

Antineoplastic Agents
Photosensitizing Agents
Reactive Oxygen Species
titanium dioxide
Titanium