Multifunctional peptide-lipid nanocomplexes for efficient targeted delivery of DNA and siRNA into breast cancer cells

What is it about?

The ability to target genes to cancers or to reduce the level of cancer associated genes is a new and exciting means to treat various tumours. In this paper, we have developed a efficient breast cancer targeted delivery system for both plasmid DNA and siRNA. This system contains many components, each designed to overcome barriers that face the delivery of genetic material such as cell uptake, oligonucleotide stability, escape from endosomes, and nuclear targeting. We demonstrate the capacity of this system to knockdown a cancer associated protein (Bcl-2), and the effect of this on cell proliferation. We believe that this system will prove to be an excellent means to deliver oligonucleotide material to breast cancer cells.

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Why is it important?

Gene therapy offers a unique means to treat diseases by increasing or decreasing the level of disease associated gene products. Such an approach would be of great use for the treatment of various types of cancers. In this paper we have developed a highly efficient approach for the breast cancer targeted delivery of both plasmid DNA or siRNA thereby enabling the knock up or down of genes in breast cancers. Further this approach provides a new tool for the in vitro transfection of hard to transfect breast cancer cell lines.