In vivo antiapoptotic gene silencing: hybrid nanoparticles as delivery system

Abstract Silencing important genes related to tumorigenesis by RNA interference has emerged as promising alternative to cancer therapy. Targeted delivery of short interfering RNA (siRNA) to tumors is necessary, given the nucleic acid vulnerability in circulation. Here we used purified hybrid nanoparticles based on calcium phosphate for siRNA delivery against BCL-2 gene in murine breast tumors. Although biodistribution studies suggested that siRNA molecules carried by nanoparticles were found in heart, kidney and tumor, reduction in tumor volume and BCL-2 knockdown were observed. The results suggest that silencing antiapoptotic genes using siRNA-loaded hybrid nanoparticles is a powerful tool for cancer therapy.