Overcoming cisplatin-based drug resistance in lung cancer
remains
an enormous challenge in clinical tumor therapy worldwide. Recent
studies have reported that some Rab GTPases are involved in multiple
aspects of tumor progression, including invasion, migration, metabolism,
autophagy, exosome secretion, and drug resistance. In particular,
Rab26 is essential to vital processes such as vesicle-mediated secretion,
cell growth, apoptosis, and autophagy. In this study, we developed
a nanosystem based on programmed DNA self-assembly of Rab26 siRNA-loaded
nanoparticles (siRNP). We demonstrated that siRNP could be effectively
transfected into cisplatin-resistant A549 (A549/DDP) cells. These
siRab26-carrying nanoparticles induced apoptosis and inhibited the
disruption of autophagy. The combination therapy of siRab26 knockdown
with cisplatin could improve the antitumor therapy compared with a
single one in vitro. In nude mice, siRNP enhanced the chemosensitivity
of cisplatin-resistant cells and inhibited tumor xenograft development.
These outcomes suggest that siRNP is an effective platform for lung
cancer therapy in cases exhibiting drug resistance.