A cocktail of microRNAs, a new weapon against brain tumours

A team of researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) has developed a promising 'cocktail' of microRNAs (miRNA) that, in preclinical models, slows the growth of glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain tumours. The work has just been published in the journal Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids, thanks to the support of the Airc Foundation for Cancer Research.

The protocol, developed in the Laboratory of miRNA Neurobiology coordinated by Davide De Pietri Tonelli, involves the combined use of eleven different miRNAs, all non-coding, capable of acting on several fronts simultaneously. Tests were conducted on cells from patients with glioblastoma and on preclinical animal models.

According to the researchers, the strategy is effective in slowing down tumour proliferation and decreasing the invasiveness of cancer cells, and also amplifies the efficacy of traditional chemotherapeutics, such as temozolomide.

'Internationally, there are many trials with single RNA drugs, but the tumour can find a path of resistance,' explains De Pietri Tonelli. 'With a miRna cocktail this possibility is reduced, because each molecule acts on multiple targets, leaving no room for the tumour cell to resume its growth activity. In essence, the multiple approach makes it more difficult for glioblastoma to bypass therapy.

De Pietri Tonelli's group focused on miRNAs that, in the healthy brain, are involved in neurogenesis: the differentiation of stem cells into neurons. In glioblastoma, these miRNAs are often underexpressed or misregulated. By adding them in combination, the researchers were able to restore a molecular balance that curbs tumour growth.