PCOL 355 Lecture 15 Test Questions with Correct Answers.docx

PCOL 355 Lecture 15 Test Questions with Correct A What is cancer? - Answer-Uncontrolled cell growth in the body. What percentage of deaths did cancer account for in 2015? - Answer-Approximately 13%. What are the current treatments for cancer? - Answer-Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. What is the key difference between a naked drug and nanomedicine? - Answer-Naked drugs have nonspecific distribution, while nanomedicine targets tumors based on enhanced permeability and retention (EPR). How does nanotherapy improve pharmacokinetics? - Answer-By targeting tumors based on EPR, nanotherapies have lower side effects and increased tumor accumulation. What are the three main types of nanocarriers? - Answer-Liposomes, lipid-core/shell nanoparticles, and polymeric micelles. What are liposomes? - Answer-Relatively stable, biodegradable phospholipids that can carry hydrophobic drugs in the bilayer or hydrophilic drugs in the empty core. What are lipid-core/shell nanoparticles? - Answer-Stable nanoparticles with an outer layer of biodegradable phospholipids and an inner core that holds inorganic drug crystals. They can carry hydrophobic drugs in the bilayer or hydrophilic drugs in the core. What are polymeric micelles? - Answer-Relatively unstable but convenient to prepare nanocarriers made of amphiphilic polymers that only hold hydrophobic drugs in the core. What challenges do approved cancer nanotherapies face? - Answer-Nanocarriers lack biological function, carrier components pose safety concerns, and current nanomedicines still have severe side effects and mediocre survival improvement. What is Polyethylene glycol (PEG)? - Answer-A hydrophilic compound used in drugs. Why is PEG widely used in drugs? - Answer-Due to its non-toxic, non-immunogenic, and non-antigenic properties. What is PEGylation? - Answer-The process of attaching PEG to nanoparticles to reduce elimination by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS). What is paclitaxel (PTX)? - Answer-A chemotherapeutic agent that stabilizes microtubules during mitosis. When was paclitaxel (PTX) first isolated and approved for medical use? - Answer- Isolated in 1971 and approved in 1993. What are the systemic effects of the 'Taxol' formulation? - Answer-Poor solubility, short circulation, and life-threatening hypersensitivity. What is the role of Cremophor in the 'Taxol' formulation? - Answer-Cremophor in the formulation can cause hypersensitivity reactions. How does the 'Abraxane' formulation improve upon the 'Taxol' formulation? - Answer-It binds PTX to albumins in the blood, providing stability. What is the role of albumin in the 'Abraxane' formulation? - Answer-Albumin stabilizes the formulation and binds PTX. What other substances can albumin bind? - Answer-Water, cations, fatty acids, and hormones. What is PEGylation? - Answer-The addition of PEG to a drug to improve its properties. What type of drugs can be PEGylated? - Answer-Hydrophobic drugs. What is embelin? - Answer-A hydrophobic drug that inhibits XIAP. What is the role of XIAP? - Answer-It inhibits caspases and prevents apoptosis. How can PEGylation be applied to embelin? - Answer-By adding PEG-lysine to form PEG-EB2 compounds. What are the properties of PEG-EB2 compounds? - Answer-They can self-assemble micelles and increase embelin solubility. How are PTX-loaded PEG-EB micelles assembled? - Answer-Primarily via solvent evaporation and stored via lyophilization. What were the results of studies on PEG-EB2? - Answer-Retention of anticancer activity in breast and prostate models. How does PEG-EB2 collaborate with PTX? - Answer-It enhances the anticancer function of PTX. What is the advantage of PEG-EB2 in releasing PTX? - Answer-It releases PTX in a controlled fashion, reducing toxicity. Have the effects of PEG-EB2 been observed in mouse models? - Answer-Yes, the effects have been translated to mouse models. What is active targeting in tumor targeting? - Answer-Targeting specific tumor-ligand interactions. What is folate (FA)? - Answer-Water soluble vitamin B9 that aids in cell growth. Why is cancer a good target for folate-based tumor targeting? - Answer-Cancer typically overexpresses folate receptors. What are the advantages of using folate for tumor targeting? - Answer-Ease of conjugation, nontoxicity, nonimmunogenicity, and cost. What was compared to folate-targeted nanoparticles in the study? - Answer-FDA- approved Doxil with poor tumor uptake. What is oleic acid? - Answer-A lipid used to anchor the folate-targeted nanoparticles. What happens to PEG(5k)-EB2 nanomicelles after receptor binding? - Answer-They dissociate in the endosome, releasing drugs into the cytoplasm. How does FA-PEG-EB2/DOX compare to DOX alone in terms of cellular uptake? - Answer-FA-PEG-EB2/DOX has increased cellular uptake compared to DOX alone. How does FA-PEG-EB2/DOX further enhance cellular uptake? - Answer-Via folate targeting. Why does FA-PEG-EB2/DOX work better than DOX alone? - Answer-Due to high delivery and synergy between DOX and EB. What is the advantage of longer circulation of FA-PEG-EB2/DOX? - Answer-Higher chance of reaching the tumor via both EPR and folate targeting.