Functionalized-DNA nanostructures as potential targeted drug delivery systems for cancer therapy

One-step strand displacement-mediated nucleic acids signal-amplified analytical strategy based on superparamagnetism-functionalized DNA arrays

DNA nanostructure, as polymeric material with remarkable molecular recognition property, has been widely used in bioassay. However, it still faces some challenges to overcome complexity of signal-amplified strategies and to realize efficient separation of reaction products. Herein, we present an innovative signal-amplified approach by integrating the toehold-mediated strand displacement reaction with DNA tile self-assembly technology to construct superparamagnetism-functionalized DNA polymeric materials, establishing a new signal-amplified analytical strategy for nucleic acids. This strategy enables highly sensitive, rapid, and efficient nucleic acid detection, making it a promising candidate for point-of-care testing (POCT). The analytical performance of this strategy was validated using target DNA (tDNA) and PIWI-interacting RNA-36026 (piRNA-36026), achieving limits of detection (LOD) of 2.4 × 10-10 M and 2.7 × 10-10 M. Moreover, it successfully detected single-base mutations and demonstrated stability over seven days. Comparative experiments confirmed the superior signal-amplified efficiency of DNA arrays. Recovery experiments yielded recoveries of 88.53 %-101.89 % for tDNA and 87.58 %-108.61 % for piRNA-36026. Ultimately, the feasibility of this strategy for real-world applications was validated through detecting piRNA-36026 in cell lysates. In conclusion, this work introduces an innovative and efficient signal-amplified method, while expanding the application prospects of multifunctional DNA polymeric materials in biomedical diagnostics.

DNA-Based Nanostructured Platforms as Drug Delivery Systems

DNA nanotechnology has recently provided a novel approach for developing safe, biocompatible, biodegradable, non-immunogenic, and non-toxic drug delivery systems. DNA nanostructures have numerous advantages for deployment as drug delivery platforms, owing to programmable assembly, ease of production, reproducibility, and precise control over size, shape, and function. DNA nanostructures can dramatically improve the delivery of poorly soluble drugs, decreasing cytotoxicity to normal tissues and improving therapeutic effectiveness. Using different conjugation methods, DNA nanostructures can be precisely integrated with a wide range of functional moieties, including proteins, peptides, aptamers, polymers, lipids, inorganic nanoparticles, and targeting groups, to enhance the nanostructure stability, extend circulation, and specify drug delivery. Smart DNA nanostructures with targeting ligands or a stimuli-responsive moiety specify therapeutic delivery to target, minimize drug loss attributable to prior drug release or off-target distribution, improve target accumulation, promote cellular internalization, bypass efflux pumps, and avoid adverse effects. Target-specific delivery by smart DNA nanostructures, in turn, maximizes drug concentration, reaching the target locations at a faster rate and preventing therapeutic failure while also lowering the dose needed for therapeutic effect. This Review provides an overview of DNA nanostructures for drug encapsulation and selective delivery to the desired sites. DNA nanostructures are a novel platform for drug delivery with improved performance that may be used to treat a variety of diseases.

PET image-guided kidney injury theranostics enabled by a bipyramidal DNA framework

Understanding the pharmacokinetic profiles of nanomaterials in living organisms is essential for their application in disease treatment. Bipyramidal DNA frameworks (BDFs) are a type of DNA nanomaterial that have shown prospects in the fields of molecular imaging and therapy. To serve as a reference for disease-related studies involving the BDF, we constructed a 68Ga-BDF and employed positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to establish its pharmacokinetic model in healthy mice. Our investigation revealed that the BDF was primarily eliminated from the body via the urinary system. Ureteral obstruction could significantly alter the metabolism of the urinary system. By utilizing the established pharmacokinetic model, we sensitively observed distinct imaging indicators in unilateral ureteral obstruction and acute kidney injury (a complication of ureteral obstruction) mouse models. Furthermore, we observed that the BDF showed therapeutic effects in an AKI model. We believe that the established pharmacokinetic model and unique renal excretion characteristics of the BDF will provide researchers with more information for studying kidney diseases.

Aptamer-Modified Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructures as Drug Delivery System for Cancer Targeted Therapy

Improving the selective delivery and uptake efficiency of chemotherapeutic drugs remains a challenge for cancer-targeted therapy. In this work, a DNA tetrahedron is constructed as a targeted drug delivery system for efficient delivery of doxorubicin (Dox) into cancer cells. The DNA tetrahedron is composed of a tetrahedral DNA nanostructure (TDN) with two strands of AS1411 aptamer as recognition elements which can target the nucleolin protein on the cell membrane of cancer cells. The prepared DNA tetrahedron has a high drug-loading capacity and demonstrates pH-responsive Dox release properties. This enables efficient delivery of Dox into targeted cancer cells while reducing side effects on nontarget cells. The proposed drug delivery system exhibits significant therapeutic efficacy in vitro compared to free Dox. Accordingly, this work provides a good paradigm for developing a targeted drug delivery system for cancer therapy based on DNA tetrahedrons.

Microenvironment of pancreatic inflammation: calling for nanotechnology for diagnosis and treatment

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common and life-threatening digestive disorder. However, its diagnosis and treatment are still impeded by our limited understanding of its etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical manifestations, as well as by the available detection methods. Fortunately, the progress of microenvironment-targeted nanoplatforms has shown their remarkable potential to change the status quo. The pancreatic inflammatory microenvironment is typically characterized by low pH, abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS) and enzymes, overproduction of inflammatory cells, and hypoxia, which exacerbate the pathological development of AP but also provide potential targeting sites for nanoagents to achieve early diagnosis and treatment. This review elaborates the various potential targets of the inflammatory microenvironment of AP and summarizes in detail the prospects for the development and application of functional nanomaterials for specific targets. Additionally, it presents the challenges and future trends to develop multifunctional targeted nanomaterials for the early diagnosis and effective treatment of AP, providing a valuable reference for future research.

Nanomedicine as potential cancer therapy via targeting dysregulated transcription factors

Cancer as a disease possess quite complicated pathophysiological implications and is among the prominent causes of morbidity and mortality on global scales. Anti-cancer chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy are some of the present-day conventional treatment options. However, these therapeutic paradigms own several retreats, including lack of specificity, non-targeted toxicological implications, inefficient drug delivery to targeted cells, and emergence of cancer resistance, ultimately causing ineffective cancer management. Owing to the advanced and better biophysical characteristic features and potentiality for the tailoring and customizations and in several fashions, nanotechnology can entirely transubstantiate the cancer identification and its managements. Additionally, nanotechnology also renders several answers to present-day mainstream limitations springing-up in anti-cancer therapeutics. Nanocarriers, owing to their outstanding physicochemical features including but not limited to their particle size, surface morphological features viz. shape etc., have been employed in nanomedicinal platforms for targeting various transcription factors leading to worthy pharmacological outcomes. This transcription targeting activates the wide array of cellular and molecular events like antioxidant enzyme-induction, apoptotic cell death, cell-cycle arrest etc. These outcomes are obtained after the activation or inactivation of several transcription factors and cellular pathways. Further, nanoformulations have been precisely calibrated and functionalized with peculiar targeting groups for improving their efficiency to deliver the drug-payload to specified and targeted cancerous cells and tissues. This review undertakes an extensive, across-the-board and all-inclusive approach consisting of various studies encompassing different types of tailored and customized nanoformulations and nanomaterials designed for targeting the transcription factors implicated in the process of carcinogenesis, tumor-maturation, growth and metastasis. Various transcription factors viz. nuclear factor kappa (NF-κB), signal transducer and activators of transcription (STAT), Cmyc and Twist-related protein 1 (TWIST1) along with several types of nanoparticles targeting these transcription factors have been summarized here. A section has also been dedicated to the different types of nanoparticles targeting the hypoxia inducing factors. Efforts have been made to summarize several other transcription factors implicated in various stages of cancer development, growth, progression and invasion, and their targeting with different kinds of nanomedicinal agents.