A new platform for RNA interference
A new platform for RNA interference RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural phenomenon that cells use to regulate gene expression. Since it was discovered in 1998, it has attracted a lot of researchers' interest. Genetic information is usually transferred from DNA in the cell nucleus to the ribosome of the organelle for protein synthesis. Short interfering RNA (siRNA) destroys the gene expression process by binding to messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that carry RNA instructions, destroying the mRNA before it reaches the ribosome.
Anderson Laboratories and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals are developing siRNA delivery nanoparticles made of lipids. In some animal studies, these siRNA delivery nanoparticles have achieved some success in turning off oncogenes. test. Nanoparticles tend to accumulate in the liver, spleen, and lungs, so liver cancer is a natural target, and targeting such particles to tumors in other organs has been difficult.
Anderson said: "When you think of metastatic cancer, you don't just want to stay in the liver, you also want to reach more different locations."
Another obstacle to achieving RNAi's hope is to find a short-strand RNA delivery pathway that does not damage the body's healthy tissue. To avoid those possible side effects, Anderson and his colleagues decided to try to deliver RNA in a simple package made of DNA. Using nucleic acid origami technology (which allows researchers to construct 3D shapes of short DNA fragments), they fused 6 DNA strands together to construct a western-shaped body (a cone with 6 sides and 4 sides). A single RNA strand is then attached to each side of the tetrahedron.
"What's especially exciting about nucleic acid origami is that you can make the same particles on the molecule and determine the position of each atom," Anderson said.
To target these particles to tumor cells, the researchers attached three folate molecules to each tetrahedron. Short protein fragments can also be used to target particles to various tumors.
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