Gint4.T-Modified DNA Tetrahedrons Loaded with Doxorubicin Inhibits Glioma Cell Proliferation by Targeting PDGFRβ

• Main Authors: Feng Wang, Yanghao Zhou, Si Cheng, Jinhe Lou, Xiang Zhang, Qiuguang He, Ning Huang, Yuan Cheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2020-07-01
• Series: Nanoscale Research Letters
• Subjects: Glioma; Platelet-derived growth factor receptor β; Gint4.T; DNA tetrahedron; Nanostructures
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-020-03377-y

Abstract Glioma is one of the deadliest intrinsic brain tumours due to its invasive growth. The effect of glioma treatment is poor because of the presence of the blood-brain barrier and blood tumour barrier and insufficient drug targeting. DNA tetrahedrons (TDN) show great potential for drug delivery and may be a novel therapeutic strategy for glioma. In this study, we used TDN to deliver doxorubicin (DOX) for the glioma therapy. Gint4.T, an aptamer that could recognize platelet-derived growth factor receptor β on tumour cell, was used to modify TDN (Apt-TDN) for targeted drug delivery. The TDN were self-assembled by one-step synthesis, which showed small size (10 nm) and negative charge. Fetal bovine serum test showed its stability as a drug delivery vehicle. Apt-TDN could be effectively taken up by U87MG cells. Compared with DOX and DOX@TDN (TDN loaded with DOX), the DOX@Apt-TDN (Gint4.T-modified TDN loaded with DOX) showed more early apoptosis rate, higher cell cycle arrest, and greater cytotoxicity towards U87MG cells. In conclusion, our findings indicated that DOX@Apt-TDN provides a novel therapy with promising clinical application for gliomas patients.