MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small regulatory RNAs which binds to the complementary sites on mRNAs preventing their translation into proteins, are linked to cancer formation and progression. Delivery of miRNAs with tumor suppressing capability holds great promise for cancer treatment, but has been limited by the insufficient miRNA stability and ineffective delivery.

To overcome these limitations, the research team led by Professor Yuan Xubo at the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Tianjin University, in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, developed a novel miRNA delivery approach based on nanocapsules, whereby miRNA molecules are encapsulated within thin network-poly¬mer shells by in situ polymerization. These nanocapsules are of uniform small size with enhanced miRNA stability, which can be delivered at high efficiency and release the miRNAs after the internalization. Using the miRNAs nanocapsules as delivery vehicles is proved to be an effective intracellular miRNA delivery system with low toxicity. This delivery method provides precise structure and surface chemistry controls, enabling high miRNA transduction efficiency and effective bioactivity, which provides a novel class of delivery vectors for miRNA leading to clinical applications. Their research result entitled “Efficient Delivery of Therapeutic miRNA Nanocapsules for Tumor Suppression”, has been published on Advanced Materials (2014, DOI: 10.1002/adma.201403387).