The therapeutic outcome of chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is greatly hindered by the presence of oxidative damage repair proteins (MTH1) inside cancer cells. These oxidative damage repair proteins detoxify the action of radicals generated by Fenton or Fenton-like reactions. Hence, it is extremely important to develop a simple strategy for the downregulation of MTH1 protein inside cancer cells along with the delivery of metal ions into cancer cells. A one-pot host–guest supramolecular approach for the codelivery of MTH1 siRNA and metal ions into a cancer cell is reported. The approach used involves the fabrication of an inclusion complex between cationic β-cyclodextrin and a ferrocene prodrug, which spontaneously undergoes amphiphilicity-driven self-assembly to form spherical nanoparticles (NPs) having a positively charged surface. The cationic surface of the NPs was then explored for the loading of MTH1 siRNA through electrostatic interactions. Using HeLa cells as a representative example, efficient uptake of the NPs, delivery of MTH1 siRNA and the enhanced CDT of the nanoformulation are demonstrated.
Gowtham Raj, D. S. Vasudev, Sarah Christopher, Anupama Babulal, P. Harsha, Soumakanya Ram, Mehul Tiwari, Markus Sauer and Reji Varghese (2024) Multifunctional siRNA/ferrocene/cyclodextrin nanoparticles for enhanced chemodynamic cancer therapy. Nanoscale 6, 3755-3763. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3NR06071C