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Given the miRNA-34 family role as tumor suppressor in cancer, it was showed that using miRNA-34a as a new anticancer agent has a great therapeutic potential. Unfortunately, biopharmaceutical issues, rapid degradation in biological fluids, poor uptake into cells and not specific distribution into the body, prevent the use of wild-type non-coding RNA by systemic administration. To overcome these limits, in our previous study we developed a new therapeutic concept based on nanotechnology delivery of miRNA-34a into prostate cancer using fluorescent nanodiamond particles coated with polyethylenimine. In the current study, in order to achieve a more conservative, stable and controlled release of miRNA-34a, we designed a system based on nanodimaonds-miRNA34a complexes encapsulated into nanofibers. We successfully encapsulate nanodiamonds into fibers of polycaprolactione, a biodegradable polymer with a slow degradation rate and a high cellular adhesion, using an electropsinning process. We cultivated prostate cancer cells (PC3 and DU145) on nanofibers scaffolds and we analyzed the presence of nanodiamonds in cells using confocal microscopy. Moreover, in these prostate cancer cell lines we observed a replacement of miRNA-34a via real-time PCR and a decreased viability testing the metabolic activity. Our preliminar results suggest a higher increased and stable mid-term replacement of oncosuppressor miRNA-34a in prostate cancer when the nanodiamonds-miRNA complexes are delivered encapsulating them in nanofibers. Therefore we provided an effective strategy for cancer therapy ready to be tested for in vivo experiments.
Keywords: Nanodiamonds, nanofibers, gene therapy, prostate cancer© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.