1. PLK1 and EGFR targeted nanoparticle as a radiation sensitizer for non-small cell lung cancer
- Author
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Shenda Gu, Daniel S. Bejan, Moataz Reda, Natnaree Siriwon, Worapol Ngamcherdtrakul, Joe W. Gray, and Wassana Yantasee
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,Cancer Research ,Radiosensitizer ,Radiation-Sensitizing Agents ,Lung Neoplasms ,Cell Survival ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Cetuximab ,Cell Cycle Proteins ,Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases ,Article ,Targeted therapy ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Radiation sensitivity ,Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ,Cell Line, Tumor ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins ,medicine ,Humans ,Epidermal growth factor receptor ,Molecular Targeted Therapy ,RNA, Small Interfering ,Lung cancer ,biology ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ,Radiation therapy ,ErbB Receptors ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,030104 developmental biology ,Treatment Outcome ,Oncology ,A549 Cells ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cancer cell ,Cancer research ,biology.protein ,Nanoparticles ,business ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Radiation sensitizers that can selectively act on cancer cells hold great promise to patients who receive radiation therapy. We developed a novel targeted therapy and radiation sensitizer for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on cetuximab conjugated nanoparticle that targets epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and delivers small interfering RNA (siRNA) against polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1). EGFR is overexpressed in 50% of lung cancer patients and a mediator of DNA repair, while PLK1 is a key mitotic regulator whose inhibition enhances radiation sensitivity. The nanoparticle construct (C-siPLK1-NP) effectively targets EGFR + NSCLC cells and reduces PLK1 expression, leading to G2/M arrest and cell death. Furthermore, we show a synergistic combination between C-siPLK1-NP and radiation, which was confirmed in vivo in A549 flank tumors. We also demonstrate the translational potential of C-siPLK1-NP as a systemic therapeutic in an orthotopic lung tumor model, where administration of C-siPLK1-NP reduced tumor growth and led to prolonged survival. Our findings demonstrate that C-siPLK1-NP is effective as a targeted therapy and as a potent radiation sensitizer for NSCLC. Potential application to other EGFR + cancer types such as colorectal and breast cancer is also demonstrated.
- Published
- 2019