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REVIEW article

Front. Genet.

Sec. RNA

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1668618

This article is part of the Research TopicEpigenetic Modifications in Drugs and DiseasesView all 3 articles

NanoMarine Therapeutics: A New Wave in Drug Delivery from Oceanic Bioresources Targeting Colon Cancer via miRNA Modulation

Provisionally accepted
Ramkumar MuthuRamkumar Muthu1Rajkumar ManickamRajkumar Manickam2Rajkumar ThamaraiRajkumar Thamarai3Sivabalan SivasamySivabalan Sivasamy4Karthikeyan MahendranKarthikeyan Mahendran5RAJKUMAR PRABHAKARANRAJKUMAR PRABHAKARAN2*
  • 1Sri Kaliswari College, Sivakasi, India
  • 2Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, India
  • 3SIMATS Deemed University, Chennai, India
  • 4VVD and Sons PVT LTD, Tuticorin, India
  • 5PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, India

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The increasing global incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) necessitates the development of innovative and targeted therapeutic interventions. Marine-derived bioactive compounds have gained prominence due to their structural diversity, intrinsic bioactivity, and potential to modulate oncogenic and tumor-suppressive microRNAs (miRNAs). Simultaneously, miRNAs have gained attention as critical regulators of gene expression in CRC, influencing key processes such as proliferation, metastasis, apoptosis, and chemoresistance. Nanotechnology has further transformed this field by enhancing drug solubility, stability, and tumor-specific delivery, thereby enabling combinatorial approaches such as the co-delivery of miRNA-targeted nano-formulations with conventional chemotherapeutics. Notably, co-delivery systems combining miRNA-targeted nano-marine drugs with conventional chemotherapy have shown synergistic effects in overcoming drug resistance and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. Despite encouraging preclinical outcomes, clinical translation remains constrained by challenges related to pharmacokinetics, scalability, immunogenicity, and regulatory compliance. This review critically evaluates the mechanistic interplay between marine compounds and miRNAs in CRC, advances in nanoformulation strategies, and translational barriers, providing insights into future directions for clinical application.

Keywords: Colon Cancer, Nanomarine therapeutics, Epigenetic regulation, Targeted Drug Delivery, miRNA

Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 24 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Muthu, Manickam, Thamarai, Sivasamy, Mahendran and PRABHAKARAN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: RAJKUMAR PRABHAKARAN, rajkumar.sjcgdr@gmail.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material