BioCentury
ARTICLE | Translation in Brief

No vehicle, no problem

MicroRNA mimics step out of the vehicle and get targeted to tumors

September 21, 2017 9:32 PM UTC

A Purdue University team has developed a ligand-targeted method to deliver microRNA (miRNA) mimics to tumors without relying on vehicles or compromising miRNA processing. The researchers think their folate receptor-targeted miRNAs, or “FolamiRs,” could widen the therapeutic window for miRNA therapies by increasing their stability while allowing them to avoid healthy cells and vehicle-driven toxicity.

Individual miRNAs silence post-transcriptional expression of multiple genes, and delivering synthetic mimics of miRNAs can help treat disease by reversing pathological gene expression programs...