Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis

Abstrait

Hyaluronidase and other Extracellular Matrix Degrading Enzymes for Cancer Therapy: New Uses and Nano-Formulations

Pablo Scodeller

Overexpression of extracellular matrix components in tumor stroma like Hyaluronan and collagen pose a hurdle for cancer therapies. Many tumors overexpress Hyaluronic acid (HA), and Collagen. The overexpression of these components results in the elevation of a parameter called interstitial fluid pressure, which represents the resistance to the flow of a liquid. High molecular weight HA and Collagen bind water very tightly, and thus "wetting" these tumors with the drug-containing solution is impeded because it demands the displacement of those tightly bound water molecules solvating these polymers. When using conventional chemotherapy to treat a tumor, the penetration of the drug to the tissue is impoverished due to this phenomenon. This review will collect new experimental approaches for degrading the extracellular matrix with enzymes, and the use of this as an adjuvant for conventional cancer drugs. Adjuvant systems composed of free enzyme in solution or immobilized enzyme on the surface of nanoparticles or expressed by a viral vector will be dealt with.