Highly controllable co-delivery of siRNA and doxorubicin via cationic niosomes for synergistic anticancer effects

Abstract

The combination of anticancer drugs and siRNA has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer therapy due to their synergistic effects. However, a major challenge is developing a co-delivery system with high controllability capable of simultaneously encapsulating both the chemical drug and siRNA. In this study, we developed a simple and highly controllable co-delivery system for delivering Doxorubicin (Dox) and siRNA. Co-encapsulation was achieved by intercalating Dox into duplex GC-rich oligodeoxynucleotides, (CGA)7/(TCG)7 (termed CGA-Dox), followed by mixing with siRNA and subsequent condensation using a cationic noisome (SPN) through electrostatic interactions. SPN/siRNA/Dox exhibited efficient cellular uptake and high gene silencing efficiency in both H1299 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Furthermore, co-delivery of Dox and siRNA targeting ribonucleotide reductase subunit M2 (RRM2) using this system significantly enhanced cellular apoptosis and antiproliferative effect in MDA-MB-231 cells compared to Dox alone. These results indicate that our co-delivery system constructed via Dox-DNA intercalation and electrostatic complexation, represents a promising strategy for synergistic anticancer therapy.