CD147 monoclonal antibody-mediated nanoparticles for gene therapy to target lung cancer cells

AIM: In this study, CD147 antibody was used to carry out targeted modification of nanoparticles for protein kinase Cε (PKCε)-siRNA gene therapy to target lung cancer cells. The inhibitory effects of the nanoparticles on the proliferation and invasion of the lung cancer cells were observed. METHODS: The magnetic nanoparticles targeting CD147 protein were assembled as gene vector. The expression of CD147 in the lung cancer cells was observed under laser scanning confocal microscope. The cells were divided into CP group, CN group and LP group as the experimental groups. Targeted nanoparticles were used as CA group. Non-transfected cells were used as control group. The cell transfection was carried out with 250 ng plasmids/well in 6-well plate. The effect of nanocontrast agent on the cell endocytosis was observed under laser scanning confocal microscope. The mRNA expression of PKCε was detected by RT-qPCR. The protein expression of Ki67, MMP3, PKCε, Wnt1 and GAPDH was determined by Western blot. The cell proliferation ability was detected with colony formation assay. The cell invasion ability was detected by Transwell method. RESULTS: The expression of CD147 protein in the human lung cancer A549 cells was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining. The endocytosis of siRNA into the A549 cells in CP group was observed with the highest efficiency as compared with CN group and LP group. The relative mRNA expression of PKCε in the A549 cells of CP group, CN group, LP group and CA group were (9.76±0.18)%, (98.51±0.32)%, (99.17±0.16)% and (99.68±0.11)%, respectively. The difference between CP group and control group was statistically significant (P<0.05). No significant difference among CN group, LP group and control group was observed. The protein expression of PKCε, Ki-67, MMP3 and Wnt1 in CP group was significantly reduced, and the protein expression levels among CN group, LP group and control group had no significant difference. The colony number in CP group was significantly smaller than that in control group (P<0.05). The effective colony numbers in CN group, LP group and CA group had no significant difference as compared with control group. The number of the invading cells in CP group was significantly less than that in control group (P<0.05). The numbers of the invading cells in CN group, LP group and CA group had no significant difference as compared with control group. CONCLUSION: Nanogene vector targeting CD147 can carry PKCε-siRNA to conduct gene therapy efficiently on the lung cancer cells to achieve effective inhibitory effects on the proliferation and invasion of the lung cancer cells.