Red cell membrane-coating Prussian blue for combined photothermal and NO gas therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nitric oxide (NO) gas molecules have demonstrated remarkable anti-tumor effects and minimal susceptibility to drug resistance, establishing as a promising modality for effective tumor treatment. However, how to realize its stable and efficient delivery in vivo is still a challenge. In this study, we have developed a heat-responsive biomimetic nano erythrocyte (M/B@R) by loading a NO donor (BNN6) onto mesoporous Prussian blue (M-PB) and subsequently enveloping them with red blood cell membranes. The preserved integrity of the red blood cell membrane (RBCm) structure could ensure its excellent biosafety, prolong its circulation time within the bloodstream and then enhance the accumulation of BNN6 at tumor sites. When M/B@R is stimulated by near-infrared light (NIR-II, 808 nm) irradiation, the nanoparticle could generate significant heat for photothermal therapy (PTT) by the characteristic NIR absorption of M-PB and then NO could also be efficiently released. The generated NO further facilitates the formation of ONOO-, a highly toxic species to tumors, while also alleviating tumor hypoxia. Remarkably, M/B@R, with NIR as the excitation source, induces combined lethality through hyperthermia, DNA damage, and tumor hypoxia relief. This novel combination strategy provides a new avenue for PTT/NO-induced cancer therapy.

A glutathione-sensitive cationic polymer delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 RNA plasmid for targeting nasopharyngeal carcinoma gene therapy.

CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been proven to be the most straightforward and accurate tool for gene therapy, but some limitations, such as the inefficient transfection or inability to precisely target, prevent the gene therapy from achieving the desired therapeutic effect. To overcome these, a kind of glutathione-sensitive cationic vectors, hyperbranched polyamide amine (HPAA) was designed for Delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 RNA plasmid, and the cyclic RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) was conjugated for the targeted treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Disulfide bonds in HPAA segments can specifically respond to the high glutathione concentration in the tumor microenvironment. Meanwhile, RGD could especially interact to the integrin αvß3 receptors which are highly expressed on the surface of NPC tumor cells. The results showed that more HPAA-RGD/SGK3-gRNA complexes could be uptaken by NPC HNE-1 cells after RGD was conjugated, and then the plasmid could be accumulated in the NPC tumor as well, which may assure the satisfied NPC therapy effect in vivo. In transfection assays, this complex showed the acceptable gene transfection efficiency in vitro and the obvious tumor inhibition effect in vivo, suggested a potential application in gene therapy to NPC.