Treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in mice with small molecule RNA therapy

  A new study shows that nanoparticles carrying a type of non-coding RNA small molecule miR-22 that can regulate gene expression have therapeutic potential for mouse models of acute myeloid leukemia.

  Acute myelogenous leukemia is a type of blood cell cancer, which often kills the patient within 5 years after intensive chemotherapy. Although there is currently a lot of information about the characteristics of acute myeloid leukemia genome mutations, but people know little about the molecular mechanisms that drive the transformation of progenitor cells into cancer cells.

   Chen Jianjun's team from the University of Cincinnati in the United States analyzed the cancer samples of 62 patients and found that the expression of miR-22 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia was reduced. Research using a variety of mouse models of acute myeloid leukemia found that the expression of miR-22 can be restored by inhibiting specific cell conduction pathways, hindering the development of acute myeloid leukemia and the maintenance of cancer cells. The researchers then used nanoparticles to deliver short-stranded miR-22 RNA to two leukemia mouse models to evaluate the effects of miR-22 therapy. In both models, treatment with miR-22 resulted in a delay in cancer progression and a longer survival time.

   However, the researchers pointed out that further tests are needed before clinical trials of miR-22-carrying nanoparticles can be used to treat acute myeloid leukemia. They also said that combining this therapy with standard chemotherapy drugs can also effectively treat acute myeloid leukemia.