Issue 38, 2021

Enhanced penetrative siRNA delivery by a nanodiamond drug delivery platform against hepatocellular carcinoma 3D models

Abstract

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) can cause specific gene silencing and is considered promising for treating a variety of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, siRNA has many undesirable physicochemical properties that limit its application. Additionally, conventional methods for delivering siRNA are limited in their ability to penetrate solid tumors. In this study, nanodiamonds (NDs) were evaluated as a nanoparticle drug delivery platform for improved siRNA delivery into tumor cells. Our results demonstrated that ND-siRNA complexes could effectively be formed through electrostatic interactions. The ND-siRNA complexes allowed for efficient cellular uptake and endosomal escape that protects siRNA from degradation. Moreover, ND delivery of siRNA was more effective at penetrating tumor spheroids compared to liposomal formulations. This enhanced penetration capacity makes NDs ideal vehicles to deliver siRNA against solid tumor masses as efficient gene knockdown and decreased tumor cell proliferation were observed in tumor spheroids. Evaluation of ND-siRNA complexes within the context of a 3D cancer disease model demonstrates the potential of NDs as a promising gene delivery platform against solid tumors, such as HCC.

Graphical abstract: Enhanced penetrative siRNA delivery by a nanodiamond drug delivery platform against hepatocellular carcinoma 3D models

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Jun 2021
Accepted
13 Aug 2021
First published
20 Sep 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2021,13, 16131-16145

Enhanced penetrative siRNA delivery by a nanodiamond drug delivery platform against hepatocellular carcinoma 3D models

J. Xu, M. Gu, L. Hooi, T. B. Toh, D. K. H. Thng, J. J. Lim and E. K. Chow, Nanoscale, 2021, 13, 16131 DOI: 10.1039/D1NR03502A

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