Antisense DNA cocktail therapy using short beta-1,3-glucan/oligonucleotide complexes

Developing an appropriate delivery vehicle for antisense oligonucleotides (AS-ODNs) to improve efficiency has been a central issue for translating antisense therapy into practice. We have proposed a macromolecular complex made from AS-ODNs and beta-glucan, schizophyllan (SPG) as such a tool. We recently discovered a low molecular weight complex in which only one ODNs can be complexed and denoted it as a "quantized complex". This quantized complex can transfer AS-ODNs into cytosol more efficiently than the conventional large molecular weight complexes. Building on this previous work, this paper presents a new idea of delivering two different AS-ODNs (K-ras and YB-1) simultaneously to the same target cell to synergistically suppress the growth of cancer cells.