Novel luminescent silica nanoparticles (LSN): p53 gene delivery system in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo†

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are one among the most common genetic abnormalities to be described in breast cancer. However, there are a few recant reports on non-viral vector-mediated p53 gene delivery in breast cancer. Methods A new formulation of luminescent silica nanoparticles (LSNs) for gene delivery was produced by the two-step method with slight modification. Key findings The pp53 plasmid constructs (p53-EGFP)/LSNs complexes were transfected into human breast cancer cell (MCF-7) and transfection efficiency was determined by FACS analysis. The gene expression was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis respectively. Further the growth inhibition through induced apoptosis with pp53-EGFP/LSNs complex were assessed by trypan blue exclusion assay and annexin V staining, respectively. Interestingly the in vivo biodistribution of plasmid DNA study revealed the occurrence was investigated by PCR and RT-PCR. The transfection efficiency of LSNs showed the highest transfection efficiency among the LSN formulation was higher than that of commercially available Lipofectin®. The LSNs-mediated transfection of the p53 gene resulted in efficient high level of wild-type p53 mRNA and protein expression levels in MCF-7 cells. Selected tissues were analyzed for any potential toxicity by histological analysis the efficient reestablishment of wild-type p53 function in breast cancer cells restored the p53 dependent apoptotic pathway. Conclusions Taken together, our results reveal that cationic LSN-mediated p53 gene delivery may have potential application as a non-viral vector-mediated breast cancer gene therapy due to its effective induction of apoptosis and tumor growth inhibition.