Construction of a target MSNs drugcarrier loaded with siRNA GLI1 and siRNA SMO aim at hedgehog signal pathway and the pharmacodynamic study of drug-carriers in the treatment of leukemia stem cells

Leukemia stem cells (LSCs) are responsible for leukemia initiation and targeting LSCs is one strategy to treat this disease. This study aims to target LSCs using multi-siRNA loaded antibodies modified with mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Here, both siRNA GLI1 and siRNA SMO were loaded in an anti-CD34 antibody modified with MSNs, and then, the MSN@siRNA GLI1 @Antibody + MSNs@siRNA SMO @Antibody cocktail was used to target LSCs. Expression levels of BCL-2 in LSCs were significantly reduced whereas Bax expression was significantly increased after treatment with nano-drug carriers. In addition, these nano-drug carriers also effectively induced the apoptosis of LSCs. The MSNs@siRNA GLI1 @Antibody + MSNs@siRNA SMO @Antibody cocktail significantly inhibited LSCs. In short, we constructed two target MSN nano-drug carriers where loaded siRNAs can be used in a chemotherapeutic drug cocktail to improve the treatment of leukemia. Graphical abstract