Combinational therapy with Myc decoy oligodeoxynucleotides encapsulated in nanocarrier and X-irradiation on breast cancer cells

The Myc gene is the essential oncogene in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This study investigates the synergistic effects of combining Myc decoy oligodeoxynucleotides-encapsulated niosomes-selenium hybrid nanocarriers with X-irradiation exposure on the MDA-MB-468 cell line. Decoy and scramble ODNs for Myc transcription factor were designed and synthesized based on promoter sequences of the Bcl2 gene. The nanocarriers were synthesized by loading Myc ODNs and selenium into chitosan (Chi-Se-DEC), which was then encapsulated in niosome-nanocarriers (NISM@Chi-Se-DEC). FT-IR, DLS, FESEM, and hemolysis tests were applied to confirm its characterization and physicochemical properties. Moreover, cellular uptake, cellular toxicity, apoptosis, cell cycle, and scratch repair assays were performed to evaluate its anticancer effects on cancer cells. All anticancer assessments were repeated under X-ray irradiation conditions (fractionated 2Gy). Physicochemical characteristics of niosomes containing SeNPs and ODNs showed that it is synthesized appropriately. It revealed that the anticancer effect of NISM@Chi-Se-DEC can be significantly improved in combination with X-ray irradiation treatment. It can be concluded that NISM@Chi-Se-DEC nanocarriers have the potential as a therapeutic agent for cancer treatment, particularly in combination with radiation therapy and in-vivo experiments are necessary to confirm the efficacy of this nano-drug.