Aptamer (AS1411)-Conjugated Liposome for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy of miRNA-29b in Ovarian Cancer.

AS1411 Aptamer-functionalized liposome was successfully formulated and found to be nanosized. Flow cytometer and CLSM results demonstrated that Aptamer enhanced the targeting of carrier in the cancer cells via nucleolin-mediated transmembrane endocytosis pathway. The lipofectaminebased miR-29b showed a typical concentration-dependent cytotoxic effect in the cancer cells. LP-miR induced a significant reduction in the cell viability of A2780 cells compared to that of nontreated control, while LP-Mut (mutant loaded) did not have any effect on the cell viability indicating the importance of the specific gene sequencing. LP-miR induced a significant decrease in the green fluorescence which is indicative of the decrease in the cell viability. Simultaneously, higher PI positive cells were observed for LP-miR treated cancer cells in Live/Dead assay. Cells treated with LP-miR exhibited the brightest fluorescence indicating the presence of apoptotic cells. Significant increase in the Annexin-V+ cells and PI+ cells were observed for cell treated with LP-miR compared to that of non-treated control indicating the potential of miR-29b. This novel miR-29b-loaded Aptamer-directed liposome could potential serve as a new platform to improve the therapeutic outcome in ovarian cancers.