Cell Death Mediated by Pyroptosis Pathway with the Help of Nanotechnology: New Prospects for Cancer Therapy.

Wu, Dan; Wang, Sheng; Yu, Guocan; Chen, Xiaoyuan

Pyroptosis, a unique form of programmed cell death (PCD) characterized by DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation, cellular swelling with big bubbles and cell content leakage, has been proven to have close relationships with human diseases, such as inflammatory diseases and malignant tumors. Since a new gasdermin-D (GSDMD) protein was identified in 2015, various strategies have been developed to induce pyroptosis for cancer therapy, including ions, small molecular drugs and nanomaterials. Although there are a number of reviews about the pyroptosis mechanism, the summary covering the recent progresses of nanomedicines utilized in pyroptosis-based cancer therapy has not been presented. Therefore, it is urgent to fill this gap and light up future directions for using such a powerful tool to fight against cancer. In this Minireview, the recent progresses of cancer treatment based on pyroptosis induced by nanoparticles will be described in detail, the design highlights and the therapeutic advantages are emphasized, and finally future perspectives on this emerging area are proposed.