1.Spatiotemporally delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein/DNAzyme logic systems using near-infrared upconversion nanomachine for precise immunotherapy.
Chao CHEN ; Shiyu DU ; Qianglan LU ; Xueting SHEN ; Shuai DING ; Lihua QU ; Yamei GAO ; Zhiqiang YIN ; Zhe LI ; Yujun SONG ; Xin HAN
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(10):5431-5443
Gene therapy, harnessing the power of CRISPR-Cas9 and/or DNAzyme systems, stands as a pivotal approach in cancer therapy, enabling the meticulous manipulation of genes pivotal to tumorigenesis and immunity. However, the pursuit of precise gene therapy encounters formidable hurdles. Herein, a near-infrared upconversion theranostic nanomachine is devised and tailors for CRISPR-Cas9/DNAzyme systems mediate precise gene therapy. An ingenious logic DNAzyme system consists of Chain 1 (C1)/Chain 2 (C2) and endogenous lncRNA is designed. We employ manganese modified upconversion nanoparticles for carrying ultraviolet-responsive C1-PC linker-C2 (C2P) chain and Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP), with outermost coats with hyaluronic acid. Upon reaching tumor microenvironment (TME), the released Mn2+ ions orchestrate a trifecta: facilitating endosomal escape, activating cGAS-STING signaling, and enabling T1-magnetic resonance imaging. Under near-infrared irradiation, Cas9 RNP/C2P complex dissociates, releasing Cas9 RNP into the nucleus to perform gene editing of Ptpn2, while C1/C2 chains self-assemble with endogenous lncRNA to form a functional DNAzyme system, targeting PD-L1 mRNA for gene silencing. This strategy remodels the TME by activating cGAS-STING signaling and dual immune checkpoints blockade, thus realizing tumor elimination. Our theranostic nanomachine armed with the CRISPR-Cas9/DNAzyme logic systems, represents a resourceful and promising strategy for advancing cancer systemic immunotherapy and precise gene therapy.
2.Logic-gated tumor-microenvironment nanoamplifier enables targeted delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 for multimodal cancer therapy.
Yongchun PAN ; Xiaowei LUAN ; Fei ZENG ; Xuyuan WANG ; Shurong QIN ; Qianglan LU ; Guanzhong HE ; Yanfeng GAO ; Xiaolian SUN ; Xin HAN ; Bangshun HE ; Yujun SONG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2024;14(2):795-807
Recent innovations in nanomaterials inspire abundant novel tumor-targeting CRISPR-based gene therapies. However, the therapeutic efficiency of traditional targeted nanotherapeutic strategies is limited by that the biomarkers vary in a spatiotemporal-dependent manner with tumor progression. Here, we propose a self-amplifying logic-gated gene editing strategy for gene/H2O2-mediated/starvation multimodal cancer therapy. In this approach, a hypoxia-degradable covalent-organic framework (COF) is synthesized to coat a-ZIF-8 in which glucose oxidase (GOx) and CRISPR system are packaged. To intensify intracellular redox dyshomeostasis, DNAzymes which can cleave catalase mRNA are loaded as well. When the nanosystem gets into the tumor, the weakly acidic and hypoxic microenvironment degrades the ZIF-8@COF to activate GOx, which amplifies intracellular H+ and hypoxia, accelerating the nanocarrier degradation to guarantee available CRISPR plasmid and GOx release in target cells. These tandem reactions deplete glucose and oxygen, leading to logic-gated-triggered gene editing as well as synergistic gene/H2O2-mediated/starvation therapy. Overall, this approach highlights the biocomputing-based CRISPR delivery and underscores the great potential of precise cancer therapy.

Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail