Anticancer use of nanoparticles as nucleic acid carriers

Official URL: http://www.aspbs.com/JBN/

Commonly used drugs can mainly be classified as protein-based drugs such as insulin and small-molecule chemicals such as aspirin (Acetylsalicylic Acid). Search for organic drug-like molecules with high efficacy and low side-effects revealed nucleic acids as potential drugs. siRNA and miRNAs are one of the negative regulators of gene expression controlling various fundamental biological processes such as cell proliferation, stem cell division, and apoptosis. They act either by altering the stability of the mRNA transcripts and/or blocking protein translation by ribosomes. During the last decade, RNA molecules (siRNA and miRNA) and DNA fragments that code for them (shRNA or miRNA genes) were analyzed in detail to reveal their potential as new generation drugs against cancer. Accumulating data on these drugs will be discussed in the light of recent advances about the usage of nano particles as nucleic acid drug carriers.