Attenuating the expression of HIF-1α (hypoxic inducible factor) by
siRNA has an effect on the proliferation of
hypoxia cancers. Mitochondria targeting
siRNA may silence the level of HIF-1α for cancer gene
therapy. A GAG-rich
DNA was conjugated to GC-rich
DNA for the synthesis of functional magnetic nanoaptamer (DNA-Fe3O4) to keep the innate character of the targeting aptamer. The DNA-Fe3O4 can load the hydrophobic
dye (BODIPY-OCH3) by the GC-rich sequences, resulting in fluorescent nanoaptamer (BFe@
DNA). Self-assembly of BFe@
DNA with target aptamer resulted in the formation of BFe@DNAH. Subcellular fluorescence imaging results confirm that BFe@DNAH can accumulate in MCF-7 cells and selectively target mitochondrion. In particular, BFe@DNAH can transport
siRNA to
breast cancer cells or tissues for the attenuation of HIF-1α and
ATP and the inhibition on growth of
cancer cells in vivo. Therefore, BFe@DNAH is a smart nanoaptamer platform for the development of subcellular imaging agents and gene therapy.