Abstract Patients with Glioblastoma (GBM) survive for a mere 14-16 months. Conventional and targeted therapies, foremost inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK-Is) have been ineffective in glioma clinical trials, contributing to a near 100% failure rate of GBM drug development. Impediments to clinical successes are the lack of systematic identification of genes with critical roles in therapy (apoptosis) resistance, and the dearth of innovative technologies to deliver therapeutics to glioma elements, and to effectively target important apoptosis regulators in established gliomas. Here, we describe the development and pre-clinical characterization of a novel RNAi-based nanomedicinal platform (termed spherical nucleic acids, SNAs) to target aberrantly expressed oncogenes in GBM. SNAs consist of polyvalent gold nanoparticles with diameters of ∼13 nm, which are densely functionalized with RNAi molecules via oligoethylene glycol-thiol linkers. Our detailed physico-chemical and cell biological characterization revealed that SNAs exhibit highly efficient cellular uptake and robust serum stability without the use of auxiliary transfection strategies or chemical modifications, less induction of innate immune responses, reduced off-target effects, and minimal systemic toxicity in rodents. In proof-of-priciciple studies, we utilized SNAs to neutralize the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, i.e., canonical family members, such as Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and the atypical member Bcl2L12. We show highly efficient uptake of SNAs into various primary and transformed glial cell lineages in vitro, including patient- and glioma mouse model-derived tumor neurospheres (TNS). Importantly, SNAs provoked robust and persistent knockdown of Bcl-2 family members on mRNA and protein levels, and robustly sensitized glioma cells toward therapy-induced apoptosis. Finally, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry of SNAs co-functionalized with gadolinium revealed that intravenously administered SNAs penetrated the blood-brain- and blood-tumor-barriers, and robustly disseminated xenogeneic glioma explants. High-level accumulation of Bcl2L12-targeting SNAs within glioma elements was associated with increased intratumoral apoptosis, and consequently resulted in reduced glioma formation and prolonged survival of xenografted mice. Thus, silencing of anti-apoptotic signaling driven by members of the Bcl-2 family using nano-RNAi represents a novel therapeutic approach to overcome therapy resistance and to halt progression of GBM. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-4. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-4
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