Tiny RNA Particles Deliver Chemo and Silence Cancer Genes in Mice

New nanoparticle technology shows promise for treating colorectal cancer lung metastasis without toxicity.

Published on Feb. 7, 2026

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Researchers have developed tiny molecular clusters called RNA micelles that can deliver chemotherapy drugs and cancer-fighting RNA directly to tumors in mice, nearly eliminating metastatic colorectal cancer in the lungs. The micelles target cancer cells by attaching to receptors on their surface and enter the cells to kill them through a two-pronged approach of delivering chemo and silencing a gene that helps cancer cells survive.

Why it matters

Colorectal cancer that spreads to the lungs is difficult to treat and has a poor prognosis, with only 16.2% of patients surviving 5 years after diagnosis. This new RNA-based nanoparticle technology offers a potential breakthrough in delivering targeted cancer therapies without the toxic side effects often seen with traditional chemotherapy.

The details

The researchers constructed the RNA micelles to carry a potent chemotherapy drug called gemcitabine along with a molecule called small interfering RNA that blocks the expression of a gene called survivin, which helps cancer cells survive. They also attached a targeting molecule to the micelles that binds to receptors on the surface of cancer cells to enhance delivery. In experiments with mice, this combined therapy nearly eliminated metastatic colorectal tumors in the lungs within 26 days, outperforming micelles carrying just the chemo drug or just the cancer-fighting RNA.

  • The study was published on January 20, 2026 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
  • The researchers also published detailed instructions on how to construct the RNA nanoparticles in Nature Protocols on February 3, 2026.

The players

Peixuan Guo

Sylvan G. Frank Endowed Chair professor in the Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology at The Ohio State University and senior author of the study.

Kai Jin

First author of the colorectal cancer study and a PhD student in Guo's lab.

Daniel Binzel

Co-author of the study and a research assistant professor of pharmaceutics and pharmacology at Ohio State.

RNA Nanobiotics

A company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that holds exclusive global licenses to multiple patents covering the RNA nanoparticle platforms developed by Guo at Ohio State and the University of Kentucky.

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What they’re saying

“Developing RNA therapeutic technology is key to treating colorectal cancer lung metastasis because there is no cure. We've developed a nanoparticle that can treat it efficiently without toxicity - the particle spontaneously targets the cancer and no toxicity is detected.”

— Peixuan Guo, Sylvan G. Frank Endowed Chair professor in the Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology at The Ohio State University

“The main idea of the micelle studies is that we can literally prove part of the idea we talk about in the Nature Protocols paper. The micelle paper is an example of how a different kind of RNA nanoparticle can be achieved.”

— Kai Jin, First author of the colorectal cancer study and a PhD student in Guo's lab

“It's a two-pronged approach. The chemotherapy is killing the cells and the small interfering RNA is blocking survival gene expression. The two together help kill the cells in multiple different pathways.”

— Daniel Binzel, Co-author of the study and a research assistant professor of pharmaceutics and pharmacology at Ohio State

What’s next

The researchers plan to continue testing the RNA micelle technology in additional animal models and work towards clinical trials to evaluate its potential for treating colorectal cancer patients.

The takeaway

This innovative RNA nanoparticle approach demonstrates the promise of using targeted drug delivery and gene silencing to treat difficult-to-treat cancers like metastatic colorectal cancer in a more effective and less toxic manner than traditional chemotherapy.