Covalent conjugates of granulin-epithelial precursor-siRNA with arginine-rich peptide for improved stability and intracellular delivery in hepatoma cells

Backgrounds: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of HCC development, progression, or effective therapeutic approaches. Recently, granulin-epithelin precursor (GEP) has been suggested as a novel factor that can control HCC cell proliferation. Thus, we aimed to develop new cell-permeable and stable genetic agents that can control GEP expression in HepG2 cells.