An all-in-one MnO₂-DNA assembly nanoplatform for imaging, detection, and gene-chemodynamic combination therapy of MCF-7 cells

Abstract

A nano-theranostic system is reported that integrates imaging, detection, and treatment. The DNA assembly self-assembled by rolling circle amplification (RCA) product and four oligonucleotides are combined with MnO₂ nanosheets to construct DNA assembly@MnO₂. One repeat unit of the DNA assembly contains an aptamer module for specific targeting, a metal ion-activated intracellular imaging module, and a DNAzyme module for gene therapy (GT). Upon entering cancer cells, MnO₂ nanosheets are reduced to Mn²⁺ by the high intracellular concentration of glutathione (GSH). On the one hand, Mn²⁺ serves as a chemodynamic therapeutic agent to trigger Fenton-like reactions for chemodynamic therapy (CDT), and on the other hand, it can serve as a metal cofactor to activate the DNAzyme. This nanosystem can not only image specific cancer cells but also sensitively detect MCF-7 cells with a detection limit of 341 cells/mL. Moreover, this system can perform gene-chemodynamic combination therapy and has great application potential in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Chemodynamic therapy; DNAzyme; Gene therapy; MnO₂ nanosheets; Rolling circle amplification.