Development of flexible nanocarriers for siRNA delivery into tumor tissue.

Abstract

Various non-viral delivery systems for small interfering RNAs (siRNA) have been developed. Such delivery systems generally exhibit tightly formed spherical structures. While such carriers have demonstrated good transfection activity in mono-layered cell systems, effects against solid tumors are often less apparent and difficult to demonstrate, likely due to the rigid structures of the carriers, which may prevent penetration to deeper regions within tumor tissue. Herein, we developed a flexible nanocarrier (FNC) system that is able to penetrate to deeper regions within tumor tissue. Specifically, we employed previously found flexible polyplexes comprised of siRNA and poly-l-lysine as wick structures for the preparation of FNCs. FNCs were constructed by coating the wick structures with lipids using a liposomal membrane fusion method. The diameters of the resulting FNCs were ca. 170nm, and the shapes were non-spherical. Lipid coating was confirmed using a nuclease resistance assay. Furthermore, FNCs showed significant RNA interference effects, comparable to Lipofectamine 2000, in a mono-layered cell system. To accelerate tumor penetration, the FNC surface was modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the tight junction opener peptide AT1002. Surface-modified FNCs demonstrated effective penetrability into a cancer spheroid. Thus, we developed a novel and unique tumor-penetrable siRNA FNC system.

• Authors: Hyunkyung Jung, Yuri Shimatani, Mahadi Hasan, Kohei Uno, Susumu Hama, Kentaro Kogure
• Journal: International journal of pharmaceutics (Int J Pharm) Vol. 516 Issue 1-2 Pg. 258-265 (Jan 10 2017) ISSN: 1873-3476 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 27871835 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Lipids
• Lipofectamine
• RNA, Small Interfering
• Polyethylene Glycols

Topics

• Animals
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Gene Transfer Techniques
• Lipids (chemistry)
• Mice
• Nanoparticles
• Neoplasms (pathology)
• Particle Size
• Polyethylene Glycols (chemistry)
• RNA Interference
• RNA, Small Interfering (administration & dosage, pharmacokinetics)
• Tissue Distribution
• Transfection (methods)