Investigating the efficacy of three DNA-aptamer in targeted gene delivery to human prostate cancer cell lines

Investigating the efficacy of three DNA-aptamer in targeted gene delivery to human prostate cancer cell lines
Saeedeh Askarian,¹ Niloofar Khandan Nasab,² Reza Kazemi Oskuee,^3,*
1. Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
2. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
3. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Introduction: Introduction: The selection of targeted and efficient carriers is still the major challenge of the drug and gene delivery to cells and tissues, so conjugating aptamer to nanoparticles has utilized broadly. According to results in biosensor, this study argued that several aptamers can improve a polycation gene delivery efficacy.
Methods: Materials and methods: We have investigated the effect of three DNA aptamers (AS1411, WY-5a, Sgs-8) conjugated to branched polyethylen imine (b-PEI; Mw ∼25 kDa) with different combination for gene (plasmid) delivery to prostate cancer cell lines (DU145, PC3). The properties of aptamer-nanopolymers including size, surface charge density, morphology and cytotoxicity were evaluated.
Results: Results: The obtained results revealed that the aptamer-complexes had appropriate nano-scale size (141-175 nm) and positive charge density (20-28 mV). According to transfection results, the dual conjugation of aptamers (15%-10:5 AS:WY) to PEI increased gene delivery efficiency up to 3 fold in compare to unmodified PEI, as best combination. Surprisingly, triple aptamer arrangement not only reduced transfection ability but also showed cytotoxicity.
Conclusion: Conclusion: It is important to note, that the present evidence relied on aptamer and cell types. Overall, our results demonstrated potential synergic effect of aptamers for gene delivery with precise combination. Therefore, future research should be conducted with different aptamers, arrangements and cell types.
Keywords: Keywords: Aptamer; Gene delivery; Non-viral vector; Polyethylenimine, Prostate cancer.