A Therapeutic Approach to Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas by DNAzymes Targeting EBV LMP-1 Gene

Molecules

Lifang Yang¹  Zhongxin Lu¹  Xiaoqian Ma¹  Ya Cao¹ 

[1] ¹Cancer Research Institute, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, China ²Center for Molecular Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, China ³Department of Medical and Molecular Biosciences, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

关键词: LMP1;    DNAzyme;    NPC;    targeted therapy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules15096127

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) has been known to have oncogenic properties during latent infection in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Genetic manipulation of LMP1 expression may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of NPC. DNAzymes are synthetic, single-stranded DNA catalysts that can be engineered to bind and cleave the target mRNA of a disease-causing gene. By targeting the LMP1 mRNA, we successfully obtained a phosphorothioate-modified ‘‘10–23’’ DNAzyme namely DZ1, through screening a series of DNAzymes. DZ1 could significantly down-regulate the expression of LMP1 in NPC cells, inhibit cell proliferation, metastasis, promote apoptosis and enhance radiosensitivity of NPC through interfering signal pathways which are abnormally activated by LMP1, including NF-κB, AP-1 and STAT3 signal pathways. Together, interfering LMP1 signaling pathway could be a promising strategy to target the malignant phenotypes of NPC.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.