Shahbazi, RezaAsik, ElifKahraman, NerminTurk, MustafaOzpolat, BulentUlubayram, Kezban2020-06-252020-06-252017closedAccess1743-58891748-6963https://doi.org/10.2217/nnm-2017-0081https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12587/6928Shahbazi, Reza/0000-0002-0816-0733Aim: In this study, we aimed to therapeutically target eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF-2K) in an in vivo triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumor model. Materials & methods: We synthesized a highly monodisperse nanoformulation using polyethylenimine-modified gold nanoparticles (AuNP-PEI) as siRNA delivery vehicle and evaluated gene downregulation. Results: We found that AuNP-PEI/eEF-2K nanoformulation was highly effective for in vitro and in vivo gene downregulation and showed remarkable antitumor efficacy that was associated with eEF-2K knockdown, inhibition of Src and MAPK-ERK signaling pathways in a TNBC orthotopic tumor model. Conclusion: Our study suggests that eEF-2K plays an important role in TNBC tumorigenesis and its inhibition by AuNP-PEI/eEF-2K siRNA-based nanotherapeutics may be a potential therapeutic strategy for TNBC.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccesseEF2KeEF-2K siRNAeukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinasenanotherapeuticsPEI-modified gold nanoparticlestriple-negative breast cancerArticle12161961197310.2217/nnm-2017-00812-s2.0-8502676795528745127Q1WOS:000406812700005Q1