Targeted Gene Silencing BRAF Synergized Photothermal Effect Inhibits Hepatoma Cell Growth Using New GAL-GNR-siBRAF Nanosystem

Therapeutic effect of E-Lip-siRNA-sFlt1 on pre-eclampsia: targeted gene silencing and improved pregnancy outcomes

Aim: To evaluate a liposome complex conjugated with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies for the treatment of pre-eclampsia (PE). Methods: In in vitro experiments, the transfection rate, silencing effect and cytotoxicity were determined. In the in vivo PE model, the siRNA distribution, mean arterial pressure, 24-h urine protein concentration, serum sFlt1 concentration, number of viable fetuses and placental weight were measured. Results: The nanomedicine effectively reduced the expression of sFIt1 and had a strong ability to target placental tissues. It could significantly reduce the symptoms of pre-eclampsia and improve pregnancy outcomes in PE model rats. Conclusion: The constructed nanomedicine can improve pregnancy outcomes in a rat model of pre-eclampsia and provides a new strategy for the treatment of pre-eclampsia.

Nanoplatform-Based In Vivo Gene Delivery Systems for Cancer Therapy

Gene therapy uses modern molecular biology methods to repair disease-causing genes. As a burgeoning therapeutic, it has been widely applied for cancer therapy. Since 1989, there have been numerous clinical gene therapy cases worldwide. However, a few are successful. The main challenge of clinical gene therapy is the lack of efficient and safe vectors. Although viral vectors show high transfection efficiency, their application is still limited by immune rejection and packaging capacity. Therefore, the development of non-viral vectors is overwhelming. Nanoplatform-based non-viral vectors become a hotspot in gene therapy. The reasons are mainly as follows. 1) Non-viral vectors can be engineered to be uptaken by specific types of cells or tissues, providing effective targeting capability. 2) Non-viral vectors can protect goods that need to be delivered from degradation. 3) Nanoparticles can transport large-sized cargo such as CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids and nucleoprotein complexes. 4) Nanoparticles are highly biosafe, and they are not mutagenic in themselves compared to viral vectors. 5) Nanoparticles are easy to scale preparation, which is conducive to clinical conversion and application. Here, an overview of the categories of nanoplatform-based non-viral gene vectors, the limitations on their development, and their applications in cancer therapy.

Understanding Gene Involvement in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Implications for Gene Therapy and Personalized Medicine

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the dominant type of liver cancers and is one of the deadliest health threats globally. The conventional therapeutic options for HCC are hampered by low efficiency and intolerable side effects. Gene therapy, however, now offers hope for the treatment of many disorders previously considered incurable, and gene therapy is beginning to address many of the shortcomings of conventional therapies. Herein, we summarize the involvement of genes in the pathogenesis and prognosis of HCC, with a special focus on dysregulated signaling pathways, genes involved in immune evasion, and non-coding RNAs as novel two-edged players, which collectively offer potential targets for the gene therapy of HCC. Herein, the opportunities and challenges of HCC gene therapy are discussed. These include innovative therapies such as genome editing and cell therapies. Moreover, advanced gene delivery technologies that recruit nanomedicines for use in gene therapy for HCC are highlighted. Finally, suggestions are offered for improved clinical translation and future directions in this area of endeavor.

The Role of Small Interfering RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a primary liver cancer with high mortality, is the most common malignant tumor in the world. Currently, the effect of routine treatment is poor, especially for this kind of cancer with strong heterogeneity and late detection. In the past decades, the researches of gene therapy for HCC based on small interfering RNA have blossomed everywhere. This is a promising therapeutic strategy, but the application of siRNA is limited by the discovery of effective molecular targets and the delivery system targeting HCC. As the deepening of research, scientists have developed many effective delivery systems and found more new therapeutic targets.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper mainly reviews the research on HCC treatment based on siRNA in recent years, and summarizes and classifies the HCC treatment targets and siRNA delivery systems.

Development of "smart" drug delivery systems for chemo/PDT synergistic treatment

Although chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been developed for fighting cancer, the complex and heterogeneous nature of tumors makes it difficult for a single therapy to completely inhibit tumor growth. In order to reduce multidrug resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs and overcome low PDT efficiency in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME), chemo/PDT synergistic treatment has received much attention in recent years. Depending on the characteristic signals of TME, various drug delivery systems can be constructed to target tumors and improve the therapeutic efficacy and the pharmacokinetic profile of anticancer drugs. This review highlights the synergistic strategies, treatment protocols, and design of chemo/PDT co-therapy in recent years to explore its scope and limitations. Taking advantage of stimuli-responsive materials and active cancer-targeting agents, cancer-targeting synergistic therapy is presented and discussed, providing ideas and suggestions for the construction of chemo/PDT co-therapy "smart" nanocarriers.

A novel multifunctional gold nanorod-mediated and tumor-targeted gene silencing of GPC-3 synergizes photothermal therapy for liver cancer

Tumor-specific targeted delivery is a major obstacle to clinical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here we have developed a novel multi-functional nanostructure GAL-GNR-siGPC-3, which consists of Galactose (GAL) as the HCC-targeting moiety, golden nanorods (GNR) as a framework to destroy tumor cells under laser irradiation, and siRNA of Glypican-3 (siGPC-3) which induce specifically gene silence of GPC-3 in HCC. Glypican-3 (GPC-3) gene is highly associated with HCC and is a new potential target for HCC therapy. On the other hand, Gal can specifically bind to the asialoglycoprotein receptor which is highly expressed on membrane of hepatoma cells. GAL and siGPC-3 can induce targeted silencing of GPC-3 gene in hepatoma cells. In vivo and in vitro results showed that GAL-GNR-siGPC-3 could significantly induce downregulation of GPC-3 gene and inhibit the progression of HCC. More notably, GAL-GNR-siGPC-3 could induce both GPC-3 gene silencing and photothermal effects, and the synergistic treatment of tumors was more effective than individual treatments. In summary, GAL-GNR-siGPC-3 achieved a synergistic outcome to the treatment of cancer, which opens up a new approach for the development of clinical therapies for HCC.