Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of
cancer-related death worldwide.
RNA nanotechnology has recently emerged as an important field due to recent finding of its high thermodynamic stability, favorable and distinctive in vivo attributes. Here we reported the use of the thermostable three-way junction (3WJ) of bacteriophage phi29 motor pRNA to escort
folic acid, a fluorescent image marker and BRCAA1
siRNA for targeting, imaging, delivery, gene silencing and regression of
gastric cancer in animal models. In vitro assay revealed that the
RNA nanoparticles specifically bind to
gastric cancer cells, and knock-down the BRCAA1 gene. Apoptosis of
gastric cancer cells was observed. Animal trials confirmed that these
RNA nanoparticles could be used to image
gastric cancer in vivo, while showing little accumulation in crucial organs and tissues. The volume of gastric
tumors noticeably decreased during the course of treatment. No damage to important organs by
RNA nanoparticles was detectible. All the results indicated that this novel
RNA nanotechnology can overcome conventional
cancer therapeutic limitations and opens new opportunities for specific delivery of
therapeutics to
stomach cancer without damaging normal cells and tissues, reduce the toxicity and side effect, improve the
therapeutic effect, and exhibit great potential in clinical
tumor therapy.