Core-shell type lipid/rPAA-Chol polymer hybrid nanoparticles for in vivo siRNA delivery.

Our previous study had reported that cholesterol-grafted poly(amidoamine) (rPAA-Chol polymer) was able to self-assemble into cationic nanoparticles and act as a potential carrier for siRNA transfection. In this study, the core-shell type lipid/rPAA-Chol hybrid nanoparticles (PEG-LP/siRNA NPs and T7-LP/siRNA NPs) were developed for improving in vivo siRNA delivery by modifying the surface of rPAA-Chol/siRNA nanoplex core with a lipid shell, followed by post-insertion of polyethylene glycol phospholipid (DSPE-PEG) and/or peptide (HAIYPRH, named as T7) modified DSPE-PEG-T7. The integrative hybrid nanostructures of LP/siRNA NPs were evidenced by dynamic light scattering (DLS), confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), cryo-transmission electron microscope (Cryo-TEM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay. It was demonstrated that the T7 peptide modified LP/siRNA NPs (T7-LP/siRNA NPs) exhibited uniform and spherical structures with particle size of 99.39 ± 0.65 nm and surface potential of 42.53 ± 1.03 mV, and showed high cellular uptake efficiency and rapid endosomal/lysosomal escape ability in MCF-7 cells. Importantly, in vitro gene silencing experiment demonstrated that both of pegylated and targeted LP/siEGFR NPs exhibited significantly stronger downregulation of EGFR protein expression level in MCF-7 cells, compared to that of the physical mixture of siRNA lipoplexes and rPAA-Chol/siRNA nanoplexes. In vivo tumor therapy on nude mice bearing MCF-7 tumors further confirmed that the targeted T7-LP/siEGFR NPs exhibited the greatest inhibition on tumor growth via transferrin receptor-mediated targeting delivery, without any activation of immune responses and significant body weight loss following systemic administration. These findings indicated that the core-shell type T7-LP/siRNA nanoparticles would be promising siRNA delivery systems for in vivo tumor-targeted therapy.

Gao LY ，Liu XY ，Chen CJ ，Wang JC ，Feng Q ，Yu MZ ，Ma XF ，Pei XW ，Niu YJ ，Qiu C ，Pang WH ，Zhang Q ... -  《-》

Self-assembly cationic nanoparticles based on cholesterol-grafted bioreducible poly(amidoamine) for siRNA delivery.

In this study, a series of bioreducible poly(amidoamine)s grafting different percentages of cholesterol (rPAA-Ch14: 14%, rPAA-Ch29: 29%, rPAA-Ch57: 57% and rPAA-Ch87: 87%) was synthesized and used for siRNA delivery. These amphiphilic polymers were able to self-assemble into cationic nanoparticles in aqueous solution at low concentrations. The nanoparticle formation was evidenced via cryo-transmission electron microscope (Cryo-TEM) and dynamic light scattering analysis. The average hydrodynamic size of rPAA-Ch blank nanoparticles was about 80-160 nm with zeta potential of 50-60 mV. Also, the effects of different percentages of cholesterol grafted onto rPAA on physicochemical characteristics, in vitro cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, VEGF gene silencing efficacy and translocation mechanism of rPAA-Ch/siRNA complexes were investigated. The results showed that rPAA-Ch57 polymer was not only able to form stable nanocomplexes and possess high cell uptake, but also to exhibit the best in vitro VEGF gene silencing efficacy and the best in vivo tumor growth inhibition effect when it was formulated with VEGF-siRNA. Moreover, the observations of confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and the study of cholesterol competitive inhibition demonstrated that endosomal/lysosomal escape and cytoplasmic dissociation of rPAA-Ch57/siRNA complexes were dependent on the "proton sponge effect" and disulfide cleavage, following internalization with cholesterol-related endocytosis pathway and subsequent transportion into endosomes/lysosomes. These findings indicated that the rPAA-Ch57 polymer should be a promising and potent carrier for siRNA delivery.

Chen CJ ，Wang JC ，Zhao EY ，Gao LY ，Feng Q ，Liu XY ，Zhao ZX ，Ma XF ，Hou WJ ，Zhang LR ，Lu WL ，Zhang Q ... -  《-》

Systemic delivery of siRNA by T7 peptide modified core-shell nanoparticles for targeted therapy of breast cancer.

Systemic delivery of siRNA is the most challenging step to transfer RNAi to clinical application for breast cancer therapy. In this study, the tumor targeted, T7 peptide modified core-shell nanoparticles (named as T7-LPC/siRNA NPs) were constructed to achieve effective systemic delivery of siRNA. The core-shell structure of T7-LPC/siRNA NPs enables them to encapsulate siRNA in the core and protect it from RNase degradation during circulation. In vitro cellular uptake and gene silencing experiments demonstrated that T7-LPC/siEGFR NPs could deliver EGFR siRNA into breast cancer cells through receptor mediated endocytosis and effectively down-regulate the EGFR expression. In vivo distribution study proved the T7-LPC/siRNA NPs could deliver fluorescence labeled siRNA to the tumor site more efficiently than the non-targeted PEG-LPC/siRNA NPs after intravenous administration. Furthermore, the experiments of in vivo tumor therapy confirmed that intravenous administration of T7-LPC/siEGFR NPs led to an effective EGFR down-regulation and an obvious inhibition of breast tumor growth, with little activation of immune responses and negligible body weight loss. These results suggested that T7-LPC/siRNA NPs could be an effective and safe systemic siRNA delivery system for RNAi-based breast cancer therapy.

Yu MZ ，Pang WH ，Yang T ，Wang JC ，Wei L ，Qiu C ，Wu YF ，Liu WZ ，Wei W ，Guo XY ，Zhang Q ... -  《-》

Lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as a new generation therapeutic delivery platform: a review.

Hadinoto K ，Sundaresan A ，Cheow WS 《-》

Brain tumor-targeted therapy by systemic delivery of siRNA with Transferrin receptor-mediated core-shell nanoparticles.

Treatment of brain tumor remains a great challenge worldwide. Development of a stable, safe, and effective siRNA delivery system which is able to cross the impermeable blood-brain barrier (BBB) and target glioma cells is necessary. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effects of intravenous administration of T7 peptide modified core-shell nanoparticles (named T7-LPC/siRNA NPs) on brain tumors. Layer-by-layer assembling of protamine/chondroitin sulfate/siRNA/cationic liposomes followed by T7 peptide modification has been carried out in order to obtain a targeted siRNA delivery system. In vitro cellular uptake experiments demonstrated a higher intracellular fluorescence intensity of siRNA in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMVECs) and U87 glioma cells when treated with T7-LPC/siRNA NPs compared with PEG-LPC/siRNA NPs. In the co-culture model of BMVECs and U87 cells, a significant down-regulation of EGFR protein expression occurred in the U87 glioma cells after treatment with the T7-LPC/siEGFR NPs. Moreover, the T7-LPC/siRNA NPs had an advantage in penetrating into a deep region of the tumor spheroid compared with PEG-LPC/siRNA NPs. In vivo imaging revealed that T7-LPC/siRNA NPs accumulated more specifically in brain tumor tissues than the non-targeted NPs. Also, in vivo tumor therapy experiments demonstrated that the longest survival period along with the greatest downregulation of EGFR expression in tumor tissues was observed in mice with an intracranial U87 glioma treated with T7-LPC/siEGFR NPs compared with mice receiving other formulations. Therefore, we believe that these transferrin receptor-mediated core-shell nanoparticles are an important potential siRNA delivery system for brain tumor-targeted therapy.

Wei L ，Guo XY ，Yang T ，Yu MZ ，Chen DW ，Wang JC ... -  《-》