Emerging applications and prospects of NFκB decoy oligodeoxynucleotides in managing respiratory diseases

• Published in: Chemico-biological interactions 2023-11, Vol.385, p.110737-110737, Article 110737
• Main Authors: Datsyuk, Jessica Katrine, Paudel, Keshav Raj, Rajput, Rashi, Kokkinis, Sofia, El Sherkawi, Tammam, Singh, Sachin Kumar, Gupta, Gaurav, Chellappan, Dinesh Kumar, Yeung, Stewart, Hansbro, Philip Michael, Oliver, Brian Gregory George, Santos, Hélder A., Dua, Kamal, De Rubis, Gabriele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asthma; COPD; Decoy oligodeoxynucleotides; Inflammation; Nanoparticles; NFκB
• ISSN: 0009-2797; 1872-7786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110737

Chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have been a burden to society for an extended period. Currently, there are only preventative treatments in the form of mono- or multiple-drug therapy available to patients who need to utilize it daily. Hence, throughout the years there has been a substantial amount of research in understanding what causes inflammation in the context of these diseases. For example, the transcription factor NFκB has a pivotal role in causing chronic inflammation. Subsequent research has been exploring ways to block the activation of NFκB as a potential therapeutic strategy for many inflammatory diseases. One of the possible ways through which this is probable is the utilisation of decoy oligodeoxynucleotides, which are synthetic, short, single-stranded DNA fragments that mimic the consensus binding site of a targeted transcription factor, thereby functionally inactivating it. However, limitations to the implementation of decoy oligodeoxynucleotides include their rapid degradation by intracellular nucleases and the lack of targeted tissue specificity. An advantageous approach to overcome these limitations involves using nanoparticles as a vessel for drug delivery. In this review, all of those key elements will be explored as to how they come together as an application to treat chronic inflammation in respiratory diseases. •Inflammation and oxidative stress are key processes in chronic respiratory diseases.•NFkB is one of the principal transcription factors regulating these processes.•Blocking the function of NFkB is a viable strategy for counteracting inflammation.•Decoy oligonucleotides are novel tools to block transcription factors such as NFkB.•Using nanoparticles to deliver decoy oligos overcomes their inherent limitations.