mRNA-responsive two-in-one nanodrug for enhanced anti-tumor chemo-gene therapy

The combination of chemotherapy and gene therapy holds great promise for the treatment and eradication of tumors. However, due to significant differences in physicochemical properties between chemotherapeutic agents and functional nucleic acid drugs, direct integration into a single nano-agent is hindered, impeding the design and construction of an effective co-delivery nano-platform for synergistic anti-tumor treatments. In this study, we have developed an mRNA-responsive two-in-one nano-drug for effective anti-tumor therapy by the direct self-assembly of 2′-fluoro-substituted antisense DNA against P-glycoprotein (2′F-DNA) and chemo drug paclitaxel (PTX). The 2′-fluoro modification of DNA could significantly increase the interaction between the therapeutic nucleic acid and the chemotherapeutic drug, promoting the successful formation of 2′F-DNA/PTX nanospheres (2′F-DNA/PTX NSs). Due to the one-step self-assembly process without additional carrier materials, the prepared 2′F-DNA/PTX NSs exhibited considerable loading efficiency and bioavailability of PTX. In the presence of endogenous P-glycoprotein mRNA, the 2′F-DNA/PTX NSs were disassembled. The released 2′F-DNA could down-regulate the expression of P-glycoprotein, which decreased the multidrug resistance of tumor cells and enhanced the chemotherapy effect caused by PTX. In this way, the 2′F-DNA/PTX NSs could synergistically induce the apoptosis of tumor cells and realize the combined anti-tumor therapy. This strategy might provide a new tool to explore functional intracellular co-delivery nano-systems with high bioavailability and exhibit potential promising in the applications of accurate diagnosis and treatment of tumors.