New nucleic acid drug: Can make cancer-suppressing genes no longer "silent"

To deal with malignant tumors, nucleic acid drugs have received more and more attention in recent years because of their good targeting and therapeutic effect. Scientists are still trying to find new targeted drugs and research directions to wake up the body's own immune function when dealing with tumors, so that the cancer-suppressing gene no longer makes the "silent lamb." Professor Yang Cheng of Nanca University School of Pharmacy studied the phenomenon of co-silence of cancer-suppressing genes in the evolution of tumor malignancy, and designed artificial single-stranded ring DNA carried by nano-microspheres to inhibit tumor progress by adsorption of miRNA to improve the expression level of the body's anti-cancer genes. Professor Yang Cheng's research was reported on the cover of Cancer Research, an internationally renowned academic journal and journal of the American Cancer Society, published in August.Breaking the "total silence" helps to suppress cancer
Recently, Yang Cheng told Science and Technology Daily, cancer patients often have the phenomenon of low expression of anti-cancer genes in tumor cells, tumors often appear a variety of anti-cancer gene co-silence led to an increase in the malignancy of the phenomenon. Traditional anti-tumor drugs mostly target individual cancer genes rather than anti-cancer genes, especially few anti-tumor drugs that can target multiple cancer-suppressing genes at the same time. As a result, "if cancer-suppressing genes can be activated and fully mobilized, tackling tumors may be a different story." Yang Cheng said.
is gene co-silence? Yang Cheng explained that gene silencing refers to the presence of genes in organisms have not been lost or damaged, but the gene does not express or expression is very low phenomenon. "Like people, multiple genes don't 'talk', which is gene co-silence, which is terrible when dealing with tumors. " Yang Cheng said in an image.
reporters learned that gene silencing is an important means of gene expression regulation of the uerte biocells, but also a hot topic of biomedical research.
previous studies have found that KLF17, CDH1 and LASS2 of various tumors have low expression of three anti-cancer genes, and the co-silence of anti-cancer genes has a strong correlation with the short survival of tumor patients. Now studies have shown that abnormal regulation of miRNA is also highly associated with malignant tumors, and many miRNAs can often be regulated against multiple target genes.
Yang stressed that regulating miRNA levels in cells has the potential to simultaneously release cancer-suppressing genes, break their co-silence, and potentially become a more effective treatment for tumors in the future. The study found that miRNA-9 in tumors inhibited the expression of three cancer-suppressing genes, KLF17, CDH1 and LASS2. Therefore, scientists are working hard to find ways to reduce the level of miRNA-9 in cancer cells, thereby removing the co-silence of cancer-suppressing genes, improve the expression of inhibited genes in patients, effectively resist tumors.new ring DNA into
sorption" sponge, Yang Cheng told reporters that they designed a special single-stranded ring DNA (CSSD) in the study, ring DNA is a class of co-priced closed DNA. The ring DNA is designed to simulate ring RNA (circRNA) in memory, which is evolutionaryly highly conservative and more stable than linear RNA. "Recent studies have found that some circRNAs contain miRNA binding bits that can be used as miRNAs to absorb miRNAs. By designing ring-like DNA rich in miRNA binding site, we simulated the circRNA properties to further enhance its stability in the human body, allowing it to absorb miRNA-9 and inhibit its function.
Yang Cheng said, their team designed a variety of CSSDs, one of which contains continuous miRNA-9 adsorption points of artificial ring single-stranded DNA (CSSD-9), with better stability and anti-degradation.
experimental results also validate the original idea. The results showed that CSSD was able to release the cancer-suppressing genes -KLF17, CDH1 and LASS2 by adsorption of cancer-causing miRNA-9, breaking the common "silence" phenomenon of the previous "three brothers", which increased the vitality and expression of cancer cells, thus effectively inhibiting tumor progression and metastasis. The results show that in tumors with high miRNA-9 content, such as liver cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer, this new ring DNA drug has obvious adsorption effect, which can fully mobilize the enthusiasm and initiative of anti-cancer genes.The prospects for new target drugs are wide
Yang Cheng told reporters, in vitro experiments found that they developed and designed artificial single-stranded ring DNA for normal cells and mice each organ has no obvious toxic effect, and the mouse immunity has a certain increase. Therefore, the study proposed a new and stable and effective miRNA inhibitor, CSSD, to release a series of "co-silent" anti-cancer genes. "From the point of view of adsorption miRNAs releasing co-silent anti-cancer genes, our study may provide a multi-target potential anti-tumor drug for tumor treatment." "Although the road ahead is still long, the first step has finally been taken, " Yang said with some excitement. This
, Yang Cheng's research and development direction is mainly aimed at the molecular mechanism of metastasis of metastatic malignancies and the development of non-coding nucleic acid drugs. Previously, the international first reported dorcycline "old drug new use" anti-tumor target PAR1, is Yang Cheng team's research results. Today, the study has entered phase I.-II. clinical trials as a new targeted drug.
" road through Rome, each target is worth tens of thousands of dollars. "In the field of bio-targeted drug research and development, there has always been a saying that every drug research and development target can be a billion-dollar heavy product, or it may end up investing heavily and reaping little. This time, Yang Cheng and his team have undoubtedly opened a new door to fighting cancer. (Science and Technology Daily)