Issue 1, 2020

Accurate cancer cell identification and microRNA silencing induced therapy using tailored DNA tetrahedron nanostructures

Abstract

Accurate cancer cell identification and efficient therapy are extremely desirable and challenging in clinics. Here, we reported the first example of DNA tetrahedron nanostructures (DTNSs) to real-time monitor and image three intracellular miRNAs based on the fluorescence “OFF” to “ON” mode, as well as to realize cancer therapy induced by miRNA silencing. DTNSs were self-assembled by seven customized single-stranded nucleic acid chains containing three recognition sequences for target miRNAs. In the three vertexes of DTNSs, fluorophores and quenchers were brought into close proximity, inducing fluorescence quenching. In the presence of target miRNAs, fluorophores and quenchers would be separated, resulting in fluorescence recovery. Owing to the unique tetrahedron-like spatial structure, DTNSs displayed improved resistance to enzymatic digestion and high cellular uptake efficiency, and exhibited the ability to simultaneously monitor three intracellular miRNAs. DTNSs not only effectively distinguished tumor cells from normal cells, but also identified cancer cell subtypes, which avoided false-positive signals and significantly improved the accuracy of cancer diagnosis. Moreover, the DTNSs could also act as an anti-cancer drug; antagomir-21 (one recognition sequence) was detached from DTNSs to silence endogenous miRNA-21 inside cells, which would suppress cancer cell migration and invasion, and finally induce cancer cell apoptosis; the result was demonstrated by experiments in vitro and in vivo. It is anticipated that the development of smart nanoplatforms will open a door for cancer diagnosis and treatment in clinical systems.

Graphical abstract: Accurate cancer cell identification and microRNA silencing induced therapy using tailored DNA tetrahedron nanostructures

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
25 Sep 2019
Accepted
30 Okt 2019
First published
05 Nov 2019
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 80-86

Accurate cancer cell identification and microRNA silencing induced therapy using tailored DNA tetrahedron nanostructures

J. Su, F. Wu, H. Xia, Y. Wu and S. Liu, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 80 DOI: 10.1039/C9SC04823E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements