microRNA Delivery by Nanoparticles

Two groups have recently published results of microRNA delivery by nanoparticles.

The first group, at University of California San Diego¹, identified miR-132 as a highly upregulated miRNA in a human embryonic stem cell model of vasculogenesis and showed that the miRNA miR-132 acts as an angiogenic switch by targeting p120RasGAP in the endothelium and thereby inducing neovascularization. They designed a nanoparticle that’s capable of delivering the microRNA (miR-132) or the anti-microRNA directly to diseased or proliferating blood vessels. This delivery vehicle ensures the therapeutic benefit is maximized while reducing the possibility of toxicity or side effects.

The other group, at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill², developed a LPH (liposome-polycation-hyaluronic acid) nanoparticle formulation modified with tumor-targeting single-chain antibody fragment (scFv) for systemic delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) into experimental lung metastasis of murine B16F10 melanoma.

1. Anand S, Majeti BK, Acevedo LM, Murphy EA, Mukthavaram R, Scheppke L, Huang M, Shields DJ, Lindquist JN, Lapinski PE, King PD, Weis SM, Cheresh DA. (2010) MicroRNA-132–mediated loss of p120RasGAP activates the endothelium to facilitate pathological angiogenesis. Nature Medicine [Epub ahead of print]. [abstract]
2. Chen Y, Zhu X, Zhang X, Liu B, Huang L. (2010) Nanoparticles Modified With Tumor-targeting scFv Deliver siRNA and miRNA for Cancer Therapy. Mol Ther [Epub ahead of print]. [abstract]