Gold nano-particles (AuNPs) carrying anti-EBV-miR-BART7-3p inhibit growth of EBV-positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma

// Longmei Cai 1,* , Jinbang Li 1,* , Xiaona Zhang 1, 4,* , Yaoyong Lu 1, 5,* , Jianguo Wang 1 , Xiaoming Lyu 1, 3 , Yuxiang Chen 1 , Jinkun Liu 2 , Hongbing Cai 2 , Ying Wang 1 , Xin Li 1 1 Cancer Research Institute, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China 2 School of Chinese Traditional Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China 3 Central Medical Laboratory, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China 4 The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510655, China 5 Department of Radiation Oncology, Gaozhou People's Hospital, Gaozhou 525200, China * These authors contributed equally. Correspondence to: Xin Li, e-mail: xinli268@gmail.com Ying Wang, e-mail: ningmengquan@gmail.com Hongbing Cai, e-mail: chbing2008@126.com Keywords: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, EBV-miR-BART7, tumorigenesis, therapeutic experiment Received: September 15, 2014      Accepted: January 07, 2015      Published: February 19, 2015 ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is a major etiological factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Several EBV-encoded BART miRNAs have been associated with viral latency, immune escape, cell survival, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Here, we report that EBV-miR-BART7-3p, an EBV-encoded BART miRNA highly expressed in NPC, was correlated with cell-cycle progression in vitro and increased tumor formation in vivo . This viral miRNA stimulated the PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway and induced c-Myc and c-Jun. Knockdown of PTEN mimicked EBV-miR-BART7-3p-induced tumorigenic phenotype. Based on these results, we conducted a therapeutic experiment by using gold nano-particles (AuNPs) carrying anti-EBV-miR-BART7-3p. Silencing of EBV-miR-BART7-3p reduced tumor growth in animal model. We conclude that EBV-miR-BART7-3p favors carcinogenesis, representing a potential target for miRNA-based therapy.