Tailored Nanoparticle Codelivery of antimiR-21 and antimiR-10b Augments Glioblastoma Cell Kill by Temozolomide: Toward a "Personalized" Anti-microRNA Therapy

Glioblastoma remains an aggressive brain malignancy with poor prognosis despite advances in multimodal therapy that include standard use of Temozolomide. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) and microRNA-10b (miR-10b) are oncomiRs overexpressed in glioblastoma, promoting many aspects of cancer biology. We hypothesized that PLGA nanoparticles carrying antisense miR-21 (antimiR-21) and antisense miR-10b (antimiR-10b) might beneficially knockdown endogenous miR-21 and miR-10b function and reprogram cells prior to Temozolomide treatment. PLGA nanoparticles were effective in intracellular delivery of encapsulated oligonucleotides. Concentrations of delivered antimiR-21 and antimiR-10b were optimized and specifically tailored to copy numbers of intracellular endogenous microRNAs. Coinhibition of miR-21 and miR-10b significantly reduced the number of viable cells (by 24%; p < 0.01) and increased (2.9-fold) cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase upon Temozolomide treatment in U87 MG cells. Cell-tailored nanoparticle-assisted concurrent silencing of miR-21 and miR-10b prior to Temozolomide treatment is an effective molecular therapeutic strategy in cell culture, warranting the need for further studies prior to future in vivo "personalized" medicine applications.