Abstract
Cumulative progress in nanoparticle development has opened a new era of targeted delivery of therapeutics to cancer cells and tissue. However, developing proper detection methods has lagged behind resulting in the lack of precise evaluation and monitoring of the systemically administered nanoparticles. RNA nanoparticles derived from the bacteriophage phi29 DNA packaging motor pRNA have emerged as a new generation of drugs for cancer therapy. Multifunctional RNA nanoparticles can be fabricated by bottom-up self-assembly of engineered RNA fragments harboring targeting (RNA aptamer or chemical ligand), therapeutic (siRNA, miRNA, ribozymes, and small molecule drugs), and imaging (fluorophore, radiolabels) modules. We have recently demonstrated that RNA nanoparticles can reach and target intracranial brain tumors in mice upon systemic injection with little or no accumulation in adjacent healthy brain tissues or in major healthy internal organs. Herein, we describe various functional imaging methods (fluorescence confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, fluorescence whole body imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging) to evaluate and monitor RNA nanoparticle targeting to intracranial brain tumors in mice. Such imaging techniques will allow in-depth evaluation of specifically delivered RNA therapeutics to brain tumors.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Anna Bratasz in the Small Animal Imaging Core (SAIC) of the Ohio State University for helpful advice for this work. The current work was supported by the NIH grants U01CA151648 (P.G.), R01EB019036 (P.G.), U01CA152758 (C.M.C.), P30NS045758 (B.K.), R01064607 (B.K.), R01CA150153 (B.K.), and P01CA163205 (B.K.). Funding to Peixuan Guo’s Endowed Chair in Nanobiotechnology at University of Kentucky is by the William Farish Endowment Fund. P.G. is a cofounder of Kylin Therapeutics, Inc., and Biomotor and RNA Nanotechnology Development Corp. Ltd.
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Lee, T.J. et al. (2015). Functional Assays for Specific Targeting and Delivery of RNA Nanoparticles to Brain Tumor. In: Guo, P., Haque, F. (eds) RNA Nanotechnology and Therapeutics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1297. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2562-9_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2562-9_10
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
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Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2562-9
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