RNA Therapeutics Institute Publications
Title
Efficient Gene Silencing in Brain Tumors with Hydrophobically Modified siRNAs
UMMS Affiliation
RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine; Department of Neurology; Horae Gene Therapy Center; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Publication Date
2018-06-01
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology | Cancer Biology | Cell Biology | Genetics and Genomics | Neoplasms | Therapeutics
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal form of primary brain tumor with dismal median and 2-year survivals of 14.5 months and 18%, respectively. The paucity of new therapeutic agents stems from the complex biology of a highly adaptable tumor that uses multiple survival and proliferation mechanisms to circumvent current treatment approaches. Here, we investigated the potency of a new generation of siRNAs to silence gene expression in orthotopic brain tumors generated by transplantation of human glioma stem-like cells in athymic nude mice. We demonstrate that cholesterol-conjugated, nuclease-resistant siRNAs (Chol-hsiRNAs) decrease mRNA and silence luciferase expression by 90% in vitro in GBM neurospheres. Furthermore, Chol-hsiRNAs distribute broadly in brain tumors after a single intratumoral injection, achieving sustained and potent (>45% mRNA and >90% protein) tumor-specific gene silencing. This readily available platform is sequence-independent and can be adapted to target one or more candidate GBM driver genes, providing a straightforward means of modulating GBM biology in vivoMol Cancer Ther; 17(6); 1251-8. ©2018 AACRin vivo.
DOI of Published Version
10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-17-1144
Source
Mol Cancer Ther. 2018 Jun;17(6):1251-1258. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-17-1144. Epub 2018 Apr 13. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Molecular cancer therapeutics
Related Resources
PubMed ID
29654062
Repository Citation
Osborn, Maire F.; Coles, Andrew H.; Golebiowski, Diane; Echeverria, Dimas; Moazami, Michael P.; Watts, Jonathan K.; Sena-Esteves, Miguel; and Khvorova, Anastasia, "Efficient Gene Silencing in Brain Tumors with Hydrophobically Modified siRNAs" (2018). RNA Therapeutics Institute Publications. 63.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/rti_pubs/63