Khoa Tran - A gold nanoparticle platform for the delivery of functional microRNAs into cancer cells

A gold nanoparticle platform for the delivery of functional microRNAs into cancer cells

A research team of Department of Biology & Biochemistry at University of Houston as developed a pathway to deliver miRNAs into cancer cells by using gold nanoparticles. Using the biocompatible properties of gold element, the team carried out the experiment of combining a gold nanoparticle with miRNA and delivering them through the cell membrane by endocytosis. Effectively applying gold’s unique physicochemical properties such as shape, surface area, amphiphilicity, biocompatibility and safe carrier capabilities into the miRNA delivering, the research team achieved a very high percentage (98%) of living cells after the endocytosis. Adding to the success, cells do not need to take time to recover which may delay and affect the efficiency of this method. Next, there are two pathways in this experiment, miR-stemloop pathway and miR-duplex pathway. In miR-stemloop pathway, the combination includes one AuNP , which is make positive in order to bind with other components, a few miR-stemloops and S-PEG strings. This combination goes through the membrane by endocytosis, then miR-stemloops are released from the endosome, binds to dicers, and be taken into the AGOs. These AGOs carry the new RNA code from the miR-stemloop and synthesis lysosomes with shorter half-life. As a result, lysosomes are self-broken down in a short period of time, release strong digestive enzyme into the cytoplasm of cancer cells and destroy them. Finally, the experiment came out successfully with a high but fair cost and thus added a new subtle medical method to fight cancer using gold nanoparticles delivery and synthesized miRNAs.

I got interested in this article with a very non-professional and funny way. Back in my country—Vietnam, a developing country—when I was little, I used to hear now and then people told each other that if you drank fine crunched gold, it would cure asthma and cancer like a magical medicine. Of course they believed in it superstitiously and without any scientific proof. Therefore, it made a very odd and funny situation when I ran into this article and found out that very smart scientists and doctors used the same method—well, considering in some general “aspects”—and proved that this “magical medicine” actually working. 

http://www.sciencedirect.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/science/article/pii/S0142961212011441