Se/Ru-Decorated Porous Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticles for The Delivery of Pooled siRNAs to Reversing Multidrug Resistance in Taxol-Resistant Breast Cancer Cells.

We report here a novel and personalized strategy of selenium/ruthenium nanoparticles modified metal organic frameworks MIL-101(Fe) for delivering pooled small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to enhance therapy efficacy by silencing multidrug resistance (MDR) genes and interfere with microtubule (MT) dynamics in MCF-7/T (Taxol-resistance) cell. The existence of coordinatively unsaturated metal sites in MIL-101(Fe) can strongly interact with the electron-rich functional groups of cysteine, which can be regarded as the linkage between selenium/ruthenium nanoparticles and MIL-101(Fe). Se@MIL-101 and Ru@MIL-101 loaded with MDR gene-silencing siRNAs via surface coordination can significantly enhance protection of siRNAs against nuclease degradation, increase siRNA cellular uptake, and promote siRNA escape from endosomes/lysosome to silence MDR genes in MCF-7/T cell, resulting in enhanced cytotoxicity through the induction of apoptosis with the signaling pathways of phosphorylation of p53, MAPK, and PI3K/Akt and the dynamic instability of MTs and disrupting normal mitotic spindle formation. Furthermore, in vivo investigation of the nanoparticles on nude mice bearing MCF-7/T cancer xenografts confirmed that Se@MIL-101-(P+V)siRNA nanoparticles can significantly enhance cancer therapeutic efficacy and decrease systemic toxicity in vivo.

Co-delivery of Se nanoparticles and pooled SiRNAs for overcoming drug resistance mediated by P-glycoprotein and class III ß-tubulin in drug-resistant breast cancers.

Drug resistance mediated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and class III ß-tubulin (ß-tubulin III) is a major barrier in microtubule-targeting cancer chemotherapy. In this study, layered double hydroxide nanoparticles (LDHs) were employed to simultaneously deliver selenium (Se) and pooled small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to achieve therapeutic efficacy. LDH-supported Se nanoparticles (Se@LDH) were compacted with siRNAs (anti-P-gp and anti-ß-tubulin III) via electrostatic interactions, which could protect siRNA from degradation. Se@LDH showed excellent abilities to deliver siRNA into cells, including enhancing siRNA internalization, and promoting siRNA escape from endosomes. siRNA transfection experiments further confirmed a higher gene silencing efficiency of Se@LDH than LDH. Interestingly, we found Se@LDH may be a microtubule (MT) stabilizing agent which could inhibit cell proliferation by blocking cell cycle at G2/M phase, disrupting normal mitotic spindle formation and inducing cell apoptosis. When complexed with different specific siRNAs, Se@LDH/siRNA nanoparticles, especially the Se@LDH-pooled siRNAs, exhibit an efficient gene-silencing effect that significantly downregulate the expression of P-gp and ß-tubulin III. Moreover, Se@LDH-pooled siRNAs could induce cell apoptosis, change cell morphology and increase cellular ROS levels through change the expression of Bcl-2/Bax, activation of caspase-3, PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK/ERK pathways. These results suggested that co-delivery of Se and pooled siRNAs may be a promising strategy for overcoming the drug resistance mediated by P-gp and ß-tubulin III in drug-resistant breast cancers.