Study and preparation of multifunctional poly(L-lysine)@hyaluronic acid nanopolyplexes for the effective delivery of tumor suppressive mir-34a into triple-negative breast cancer cells

Non-viral gene delivery using exogenous microRNAs is a potential strategy for fighting cancers with poor prognosis and which lack specific therapies, such as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Herein we report the synthesis of six nontoxic electrostatic polymeric nanocapsules (P1 to P6) for microRNA delivery in TNBC cells. 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the nanopolyplexes, synthesized with Poly(L-Lysine) and hyaluronic acid (Ha). Studies on the activity of the ternary HA/PLI/miRNA-34 nanopolyplexes towards TNBC cell line MDA-MB-231 were conducted. The nanopolyplexes mediated intracellular restoration of tumor suppressor miR34a was evaluated by using Western blotting to quantify the expression level of the Bcl-2 protein. The results suggest that the P5, with a ratio PLI/Ha of 0.05, was the most promising for the delivery of miR-34a into TNBC cells; the P5 nanocapsules were able to reduce Bcl-2 expression at a protein level, and had an effect in the overall cell viability after 24 h treatment.