PUBLICATION: ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION

AUTHORS: Jiao, K; Yan, QL; Guo, LJ; Qu, ZB; Cao, ST; Chen, XL; Li, Q; Zhu, Y; Li, J; Wang, LH; Fan, CH; Wang, F

  

Direct delivery of exogenous non-coding nucleic acids into living cells has attracted intense interest in biological applications. However, the cell entry efficiency and target capture ability remain to be improved. Herein, we report a method for compartmenting the nucleic acids on the surface of poly-adenine-based spherical nucleic acids (polyA-SNAs) for efficient capture of oncogenic microRNAs (miRNAs) in living cells. We find that polyA-SNAs exhibit high cell entry efficiency, which is insensitive to the configuration of the anti-miRNA sequences. By programming the length of polyAs, we precisely engineered the spatial configuration of the anti-miRNA sequences in polyA-SNAs. Compartmentalized polyA-SNAs bind to miRNAs with improved capture ability as compared to densely compacted SNAs. We further demonstrate that polyA-SNAs serve as high-efficacy miRNA sponges for capturing oncogenic miRNAs both in living cells and in mice. The efficient inhibition of miRNAs results in significant suppression of tumor growth.

  

LINKS: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202017039