Unlocking the Potential of RNA Nanoparticles: A Breakthrough Approach to Overcoming Challenges in Colon Cancer Treatment

Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 13. doi: 10.2174/0113892010285554240303160500. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTGlobally, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths is colon cancer. As this form of cancer has a tremendous potential to metastasize, effective treatment is complicated and sometimes impossible. Despite the improvement of conventional chemotherapy and the advent of targeted therapies, overcoming multi-drug resistance (MDR) and side effects remain significant challenges. As a therapeutic intervention for targeted gene silencing in cancer, RNA technology shows promise and certain RNA-based formulations are currently undergoing clinical studies. Various studies have reported that RNA-based nanoparticles have demonstrated substantial promise for targeted medication delivery, gene therapy, and other biomedical applications. However, using RNA as a therapeutic tool presents severe limitations, mainly related to its low stability and poor cellular uptake. Nanotechnology offers a flexible and tailored alternative due to the difficulties in delivering naked RNA molecules safely in vivo, such as their short half-lives, low chemical stability, and susceptibility to nuclease degradation. In addition to shielding RNA molecules from immune system attacks and enzymatic breakdown, the nanoparticle-based delivery systems allow RNA accumulation at the tumor site. The potential of RNA and RNA-associated nanomedicines for the treatment of colon cancer, as well as the prospects f...
Source: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Category: Biotechnology Authors: Source Type: research