Circular dumbbell miR-34a-3p and −5p suppresses pancreatic tumor cell-induced angiogenesis and activates macrophages

Angiogenesis is a tightly regulated biological process by which new blood vessels are formed from pre-existing blood vessels. This process is also critical in diseases such as cancer. Therefore, angiogenesis has been explored as a drug target for cancer therapy. The future of effective anti-angiogenic therapy lies in the intelligent combination of multiple targeting agents with novel modes of delivery to maximize therapeutic effects. Therefore, a novel approach is proposed that utilizes dumbbell RNA (dbRNA) to target pathological angiogenesis by simultaneously targeting multiple molecules and processes that contribute to angiogenesis. In the present study, a plasmid expressing miR-34a-3p and −5p dbRNA (db34a) was constructed using the permuted intron-exon method. A simple protocol to purify dbRNA from bacterial culture with high purity was also developed by modification of the RNASwift method. To test the efficacy of db34a, pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 were used. Functional validation of the effect of db34a on angiogenesis was performed on human umbilical vein endothelial cells using a tube formation assay, in which cells transfected with db34a exhibited a significant reduction in tube formation compared with cells transfected with scrambled dbRNA. These results were further validated in vivo using a zebrafish angiogenesis model. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates an approach for blocking angiogenesis using db34a. The data also show that this approach may be used to targeting multiple molecules and pathways.