Delivery Efficiency of miR-21i-CPP-SWCNT and Its Inhibitory Effect on Fibrosis of the Renal Mesangial Cells

Abstract EN

MicroRNA 21 (miR-21) was proved to cause renal fibrosis and the inhibition of miR-21 would improve the poor prognosis in renal cell carcinoma diseases.

The complementary oligonucleotide of mature miR-21 was considered to be an effective intracellular miR-21 inhibitor (miR-21i).

The directly effective delivery of miR-21i into fibrotic cell is a facile method for treatment of renal fibrosis.

Herein, the miR-21i-CPP-SWCNT delivery system, synthesized via single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), was taken as a novel fibrosis-targeting therapeutic carrier.

The miR-21i and CPP firstly bind together via electrostatic forces, and subsequently miR-21i-CPP binds to the surface of SWCNTs via hydrophobic forces.

CPP could endow the delivery system with targeting property, while SWCNT would enhance its penetrating ability.

The exogenous miR-21i released from the designed miR-21i-CPP-SWCNTs had successfully inhibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in renal mesangial cells (RMCs).

We found that the expression of TGF-β1 proteins was more sensitive to miR-21i-CPP-SWCNT than the expression of α-SMA proteins.