RNA nanoparticles harboring annexin A2 aptamer can target ovarian cancer for tumor-specific doxorubicin delivery

We report here the novel design and construction of a chemical modified DNA/RNA hybrid nanoparticle for ovarian cancer targeted drug delivery. A thio-DNA aptamer targeting annexin A2 was conjugated to a highly thermodynamically stable three way junction (3WJ) core motif derived from pRNA of phi29 bacteriophage. The other arm of pRNA-3WJ is extended with GC rich sequences for doxorubicin loading. The constructed nanoparticles retained the annexin A2 targeting property, can significantly enhance the toxicity of doxorubicin towards ovarian cancer cells and specifically target annexin A2 overexpression cancer cells in vivo. This novel cancer cell targeted drug delivery system is promising for enhancing chemical drug efficiency in ovarian cancer treatment in a targeted manner.154