Metformin (MET) and survivin siRNA were delivered using silk fibroin nanoparticles (SFNs) modified with polyethyleneimine (PEI). Nanoparticle functional groups, structural, stability and physicochemical characteristics of the nanoparticles were determined. SFNs loaded with siRNA that had appropriate size, zeta potential , and stability were confirmed by various analytical and spectroscopical methods. The vitro cytotoxicity analysis was performed using CNE2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells with different compositions, and the results showed that the newly fabricated nanoparticles effectively triggered apoptosis in CNE2. Afterward, the mice analysis was used to investigate the in vivo therapeutic efficacy. With no apparent weight loss, the co-delivery systems dramatically slowed nasopharyngeal tumor development in mice. Survivin siRNA and MET increased the number of apoptotic tumor cells on histopathology slides. Apoptosis induction in cancer cells and therapeutic effectiveness were satisfactory with the drug delivery method. In this way, it might be used as a therapeutic agent in the fight against nasopharyngeal cancer.
In recent years, small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been widely used in the treatment of human diseases, especially tumors, and has shown great appeal. However, the clinical application of siRNA faces several challenges. Insufficient efficacy, poor bioavailability, poor stability, and lack of responsiveness to a single therapy are the main problems affecting tumor therapy. Here, we designed a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-modified metal organic framework nanoplatform (named [email protected] @survivin [email protected] , [email protected] ) for targeted co-delivery of oridonin (ORI), a natural anti-tumor active ingredient) and survivin siRNA in vivo. This can improve the stability and bioavailability of siRNA and the efficacy of siRNA monotherapy. The high drug-loading capacity and pH-sensitive properties of zeolite imidazolides endowed the [email protected] with lysosomal escape abilities. The Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-conjugated CPP (PEG-CPP33) coating significantly improved the uptake in the [email protected] in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that the co-delivery of ORI and survivin siRNA greatly enhanced the anti-tumor effect of [email protected] , demonstrating the synergistic effect between ORI and survivin siRNA. In summary, the novel targeted nanobiological platform loaded with ORI and survivin siRNA presented herein showed great advantages in cancer therapy, and provides an attractive strategy for the synergistic application of chemotherapy and gene therapy.
Chuanmin Zhang,Shubiao Zhang,Defu Zhi,Yinan Zhao,Shaohui Cui,Jingnan Cui
This work designed a new delivery system (L-PTX-PSur), which could efficiently co-deliver paclitaxel (PTX) and survivin siRNA (Sur) to overcome the dose-limiting toxicity by effectively accumulating PTX in tumor and obtain enhanced therapy by synergistic effect. In this co-delivery system, protamine was selected to condense siRNA into a compacted ‘core’, and a carbamate-linked cationic lipid was used to develop PTX-loaded liposome to entrap the core. L-PTX-PSur with protamine could facilitate Sur entry into NCI-H460 cells and exhibited high encapsulation efficiency of PTX. In vitro studies on the NCI-H460 lung cancer cells revealed that L-PTX-PSur offered significant advantages over the control groups, and it had the highest cellular uptake, the lowest cell viability and the strongest apoptosis. Western blot result showed that survivin protein expression could be noticeably suppressed by L-PTX-PSur in NCI-H460 cells. And the down-regulation of survivin protein could lower the apoptotic threshold of cancer cells and render PTX more effective with low doses. Collectively, L-PTX-PSur with a low dose of PTX could induce a synergistic inhibitory effect on cancer cells growth by the collaboration of PTX and Sur. This work provides a promising strategy for the treatment of lung cancer.