A Unique Gene-Silencing Approach, Using an Intelligent RNA Expression Device (iRed), Results in Minimal Immune Stimulation When Given by Local Intrapleural Injection in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Overcoming barriers by local drug delivery with liposomes

Localized or topical administration of drugs may be considered as a potential approach for overcoming the problems caused by the various biological barriers encountered in drug delivery. The combination of using localized administration routes and delivering drugs in nanoparticulate formulations, such as liposomes, may have additional advantages. Such advantages include prolonged retention of high drug loads at the site of action and controlled release of the drug, ensuring prolonged therapeutic effect; decreased potential for side-effects and toxicity (due to the high topical concentrations of drugs); and increased protection of drugs from possible harsh environments at the site of action. The use of targeted liposomal formulations may further potentiate any acquired therapeutic advantages. In this review we present the most advanced cases of localized delivery of liposomal formulations of drugs, which have been investigated pre-clinically and clinically in the last ten years, together with the reported therapeutic advantages, in each case.

[Chemical Approaches for RNAi Drug Development]

RNA interference (RNAi) is the standard method of suppressing gene expression because of its target specificity, potency, and ability to silence the expression of virtually any gene. Using 21-mer small interfering RNA (siRNA) is the general approach for inducing RNAi, as siRNA can be easily prepared using a DNA/RNA synthesizer. Synthetic siRNA can be chemically modified to increase the potency of RNAi activity and abrogate innate immune stimulation. However, designing chemically modified siRNA requires substantial experimentation. A practical method for understanding the interaction of siRNA and RNAi-related proteins and how modifications affect RNA-protein interactions is therefore needed. Plasmid DNA (pDNA) expressing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) can also be used to induce RNAi. pDNA produces numerous shRNAs that induce RNAi with potent and longterm RNAi activity, even if only one pDNA molecule is delivered to the nucleus. However, this approach has some drawbacks with regard to its therapeutic application, such as a low pDNA transfection efficiency due to its huge molecular size and innate immune responses induced by extra genes, such as CpG motifs. To overcome these issues with RNAi inducers (siRNA and pDNA), our group developed some chemical approaches using chemically modified oligonucleotides. This article focuses on our two original approaches. The first involves the groove modification of siRNA duplexes to understand siRNA-protein interactions using 7-bromo-7-deazaadenosine and 3-bromo-3-deazaadenosine as chemical probes, while the second involves the generation of RNAi medicine using chemically modified DNA, known as an intelligent shRNA expression device (iRed).

An RNAi therapeutic, DFP-10825, for intraperitoneal and intrapleural malignant cancers

RNA interference (RNAi), a potent post-transcriptional gene-silencing action, has received considerable attentions as a novel therapeutic tool to treat intractable cancers. In recent days, we have developed a novel RNAi-based therapeutic formulation, DFP-10825, for the treatment of intractable advanced cancers developed in coelomic cavities. DFP-10825 was composed of chemically synthesized short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against thymidylate synthase (TS), a key enzyme for cancer proliferation, and cationic liposomes, and achieved high therapeutic effect on the mouse models of peritoneally disseminated gastric and ovarian cancers and malignant pleural mesothelioma without severe side effects by intracoelomic direct treatment. We further designed a freeze-dried DFP-10825 formulation for mass industrial production. DFP-10825 is undergoing in pre-clinical phase and goes to clinical trials. This review introduces a DFP-10825 formulation, a potent novel RNAi-based therapeutic maximizing the benefit of RNAi molecule (shRNA).