title: Recent Advances in Anticancer Activities and Drug Delivery Systems of Tannins.
abstract: Tannins, polyphenols in medicinal plants, have been divided into two groups of hydrolysable and condensed tannins, including gallotannins, ellagitannins, and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Potent anticancer activities have been observed in tannins (especially EGCG) with multiple mechanisms, such as apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of invasion and metastases. Furthermore, the combinational effects of tannins and anticancer drugs have been demonstrated in this review, including chemoprotective, chemosensitive, and antagonizing effects accompanying with anticancer effect. However, the applications of tannins have been hindered due to their poor liposolubility, low bioavailability, off-taste, and shorter half-life time in human body, such as EGCG, gallic acid, and ellagic acid. To tackle these obstacles, novel drug delivery systems have been employed to deliver tannins with the aim of improving their applications, such as gelatin nanoparticles, micelles, nanogold, liposomes, and so on. In this review, the chemical characteristics, anticancer properties, and drug delivery systems of tannins were discussed with an attempt to provide a systemic reference to promote the development of tannins as anticancer agents.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
authors.forename: Yuee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
authors.forename: Jinming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Nelson G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Bioengineering Medicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Bioengineering Medicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632, China.
authors.forename: Jiange
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
authors.forename: Chengwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
authors.forename: Meiwan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D013634:Tannins / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D013634:Tannins
keywords: (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate; anticancer; combinatorial effects; drug delivery systems; tannins