Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles target BxPC-3 cells and silence MUC4 for the treatment of pancreatic cancer

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) are excellent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Mucin 4 (MUC4) acts as pancreatic cancer (PC) tumor antigen and influences PC progression. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are used as a gene-silencing tool to treat a variety of diseases. We designed a therapeutic probe based on polyetherimide-superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (PEI-SPION) combined with siRNA nanoprobes (PEI-SPION-siRNA) to assess the contrast in MRI. The biocompatibility of the nanocomposite, and silencing of MUC4 were characterized and evaluated. The prepared molecular probe had a particle size of 61.7 ± 18.5 nm and a surface of 46.7 ± 0.8mV and showed good biocompatibility in vitro and T2 relaxation efficiency. It can also load and protect siRNA. PEI-SPION-siRNA showed a good silencing effect on MUC4. PEI-SPION-siRNA may be beneficial as a novel theranostic tool for PC. •The PEI-SPION vector designed by us has been proved to be a positively charged nanocluster structure, which can automatically compound and release siRNA.•In vitro magnetic resonance imaging, the molecular probe has good T2 relaxation efficiency.•This study investigated the use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in treating and diagnosing pancreatic cancer