Charge reversible calcium phosphate lipid hybrid nanoparticle for siRNA delivery

Bcl-2 gene is an important target to treat lung cancer. The small interference RNA (siRNA) of Bcl-2 gene (siBcl-2) can specifically silence Bcl-2 gene. However, naked siBcl-2 is difficult to accumulate in the tumor tissue to exert its activity. In this paper, a calcium phosphate lipid hybrid nanoparticle that possessed charge reversible property was prepared to enhance the activity of siBcl-2 in vivo. The average diameter and zeta potential of siBcl-2 loaded calcium phosphate lipid hybrid nanoparticles (LNPS@siBcl-2) were 80 nm and −13 mV at pH7.4 whereas the diameter and zeta potential changed to 1506 nm and +9 mV at pH5.0. LNPS@siBcl-2 could efficiently deliver siBcl-2 to the cytoplasm and significantly decreased the expression of Bcl-2 in A549 cells. Moreover, the in vivo experimental results showed that most of the Cy5-siBcl-2 accumulated in tumor tissue after LNPS@Cy5-siBcl-2 was administered to tumor-bearing mice by tail vein injection. Meanwhile, the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased but the expression of the BAX and Caspase-3 was increased in tumor tissue. LNPS@siBcl-2 significantly inhibited the growth of tumor in tumor-bearing mice without any obvious systemic toxicity. Thus, the charge reversible calcium phosphate lipid hybrid nanoparticle was an excellent siBcl-2 delivery carrier to improve the activity of siBcl-2 in vivo. LNPS@siBcl-2 has potential in the treatment of lung cancer.