Click-Nucleic-Acid-Containing Codelivery System Inducing Collapse of Cellular Homeostasis for Tumor Therapy through Bidirectional Regulation of Autophagy and Glycolysis

As a rapid proliferating tissue, tumor cells have to optimize nutrient utilization to withstand harsh conditions. Several approaches have been explored to inhibit the growth and metastasis of tumor by disrupting the reprogrammed tumor metabolism. However, nutrient limitations within solid tumors may induce the metabolic flexibility of malignant cells to sustain growth and survival using one nutrient to fill metabolite pools normally supplied by the other. To overcome this predicament, a promising click-nucleic-acid-containing platform for codelivery of rapamycin, anti-PFKFB4 siRNA, and targeting ligand aptamer AS1411 was applied. PFKFB4 could act as a promising target for tumor therapy for being a molecular fulcrum that could couple glycolysis to autophagy by promoting aggressive metastatic tumors. The downregulation of PFKFB4 can help inhibit the SRC3/Akt/mTOR pathway, leading autophagy to the direction of promoting apoptosis of tumor cells, which is induced by the collapse of tumor cellular homeostasis, while low dosages of rapamycin could decrease surgery-induced immune dysfunction. Enhanced tumor autophagy, favorable in vivo antitumor efficacy, and effective systematic immune activation are observed after treatment, suggesting that autophagy and glycolysis can serve as an integrated target for tumor treatment.