Journal of drug targeting2026ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Khan Ms, Abourehab Mas, Gupta G, Goh Kw, Sahebkar A, Kesharwani P
Breast cancer progression is driven by molecular heterogeneity, drug resistance (DR), and interactions within the tumour microenvironment (TME), creating an urgent need for therapies that can selectively suppress disease-associated genes. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) can silence targets involved in tumour growth…
Read the article →Current gene therapy2026ResearchNon-viral Gene DeliveryDrug Delivery
Rajeshwar V, Kumar Kr, Kumar Gr, Roja P, Mohan Vk, Aparna Tn
The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPRassociated protein 9 (Cas9) system has revolutionized genome editing through its precision, simplicity, and programmability. The clinical translation of CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) remains constrained by major delivery challenges…
Read the article →Pharmaceutics2026ReviewDrug Delivery
Syed Hashim Sa
Clinical translation of lipid nanomedicines in oncology is limited by biological barriers and by an interpretive challenge: tumour accumulation and cellular uptake are often used as proxies for delivery even when pharmacologically competent cargo, meaning cargo capable of producing its intended molecular effect, has…
Read the article →ACS nanoscience Au2026ResearchNon-viral Gene DeliveryDrug Delivery
Rogado Mt, Wang A, Zeng S, Wang Z, Burda C
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have risen to the forefront of modern therapeutics by enabling the clinical success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In order for them to function as drug delivery vesicles, LNPs must have scalable, tunable, and targeted nanoscale platforms whose strengths in versatility, performance, and…
Read the article →ACS nano2026ResearchNon-viral Gene DeliveryDrug Delivery
He Y, Wang L, Williams Ap, Valerio Ti, Sun Y, Bowman J, Et Al.
In this study, we developed a library of mRNA lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) containing clinically used ionizable lipids. We surface-modified these nanoparticles with heparosan polysaccharides and systematically compared their performance with conventional poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified formulations. Our heparosan…
Read the article →International journal of nanomedicine2026ReviewDrug Delivery
Gharatape A, Alikhanian A, Verdi J, Choonara Ye, Faridi-Majidi R
Although therapeutic opportunities beyond the scope of either field alone are offered by the combination of immune cell treatment and nanotechnology, a dominant nanoparticle design for immune-cell engineering has not been yielded by two decades of research. Here, it is contended that this lack of advancement is the…
Read the article →Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society2026ResearchNon-viral Gene DeliveryDrug Delivery
Nasr Ss, Tabah Oe, Kumar S, Poore S, Duncan Ga
Pulmonary delivery of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) remains an area of significant interest, given the broad range of genetic disorders that could be addressed through localized administration of therapeutic nucleic acids to the lung. In this study, we investigated how incorporation of the clinically used lung…
Read the article →Advanced Science2023ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Cheng Huang, Xing Duan, Jichao Wang, Qingqing Tian, Yangmei Ren, Kepan Chen, Zongliang Zhang, Yuanyou Li, Yunyu Feng, Kunhong Zhong, Yuelong Wang, Liangxue Zhou, Gang Guo, Xiangrong Song, And Aiping Tong
Bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs) are promising but require large amounts of purified protein, have high manufacturing costs, poor in vivo stability, and short serum half-lives. mRNA delivery could enable continuous endogenous production of BiTEs, but efficient and safe delivery systems are needed. The study…
Read the article →Journal of Controlled Release 349 (2022ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Annabelle Biscans, Socheata Ly, Nicholas Mchugh, David A. Cooper, Anastasia Khvorova
Lipid-conjugated siRNAs can reach extrahepatic tissues, but silencing efficacy remains lower than in liver largely because only ~1–2% of internalised siRNA escapes endosomes into the cytoplasm. Ionisable lipids enhance endosomal escape in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), but direct covalent conjugation of an ionisable…
Read the article →Heart Failure Reviews (Springer)2022ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Paolo Morfino, Alberto Aimo, Vincenzo Castiglione, Carolina Galvez-Montón, Michele Emdin, Antoni Bayes-Genis
Cardiac fibrosis contributes to the pathogenesis of heart failure, myocardial infarction, and arrhythmias, but no primarily anti-fibrotic drug has been approved for cardiovascular disease. Many candidate anti-fibrotic strategies have shown promise in preclinical models yet failed to demonstrate clear clinical…
Read the article →Molecules2022ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Wang H-L, Wang Z-G, Liu S-L
mRNA is a promising cancer immunotherapy platform for vaccines, cytokines, costimulatory receptors, and therapeutic antibodies, but it is unstable, immunogenic, and poorly delivered in vivo. Safer and more efficient delivery systems are needed to improve mRNA stability, cellular uptake, endosomal escape, and…
Read the article →Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation.2022ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Karmacharya P, Patil Br, Kim Jo
mRNA is an attractive platform for cancer immunotherapy, but its instability, susceptibility to RNase degradation, and inefficient endosomal escape limit therapeutic applications. Lipid-based nanocarriers are non-viral vectors that can protect mRNA, improve transfection, and deliver it to intracellular compartments…
Read the article →ACS Nano2021ReviewDrug Delivery
Paula M. Cevaal, Abdalla Ali, Ewa Czuba-Wojnilowicz, Jori Symons, Sharon R. Lewin, Christina Cortez-Jugo, Frank Caruso
T cells are attractive targets for immunotherapy, cancer, HIV, autoimmunity, and inflammation, but nanoparticle delivery to T cells remains a major technological challenge due to their nonphagocytic nature and multiple physiological barriers. There is a need for rational design principles for in vivo T cell-targeting…
Read the article →Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS)2021ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Dapeng Zhang, Elena N. Atochina-Vasserman, Devendra S. Maurya, Ning Huang, Qi Xiao, Nathan Ona, Matthew Liu, Hamna Shahnawaz, Houping Ni, Kyunghee Kim, Margaret M. Billingsley, Darrin J. Pochan, Michael J. Mitchell, Drew Weissman, Virgil Percec
Four-component lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) represent the leading non-viral vectors for mRNA delivery, but they have limitations including: (1) segregation of the neutral ionisable lipid as droplets in the LNP core, reducing transfection efficiency to ~1-2%; (2) the "PEG dilemma" where PEGylation increases circulation…
Read the article →Advanced Science (Weinh.)2021ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Johan Karlsson, Stephanie Y. Tzeng, Shayan Hemmati, Kathryn M. Luly, Olivia Choi, Yuan Rui, David R. Wilson, Kristen L. Kozielski, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, Jordan J. Green
Systemic delivery of RNA therapeutics with polymer-based nanocarriers is limited by poor colloidal stability in blood and inefficient intracellular delivery of siRNA to the cytosol. There is a need for nanoparticles that remain stable extracellularly but rapidly release RNA intracellularly. Crosslinking: Molecular…
Read the article →International Journal of Polymeric Materials and Polymeric Biomaterials2021ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Liu T, Lin M, Wu F, Lin A, Luo D, Zhang Z
siRNA therapeutics are limited by poor cellular uptake, serum nuclease degradation, and inefficient endosomal/lysosomal escape. Chitosan is biocompatible and biodegradable but has low transfection efficiency, largely due to poor buffering capacity and weak endosomal escape. Histidine grafting was explored to add…
Read the article →Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Kim J, Eygeris Y, Gupta M, Sahay G.
mRNA vaccines are promising but naked mRNA is fragile, susceptible to enzymatic degradation, poorly taken up by cells due to electrostatic repulsion, and can trigger innate immune responses. Self-assembly offers a versatile approach to prepare delivery vehicles with customisable properties. The review discusses…
Read the article →Nature Communications2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Han X, Zhang H, Butowska K, Swingle Kl, Alameh M-G, Weissman D, Mitchell Mj
RNA therapeutics—ASOs, siRNAs, miRNAs, mRNAs, and CRISPR-Cas9 sgRNAs—are limited by nuclease degradation, large size, and negative charge. Ionisable lipids are the key LNP component that condenses RNA, enables endosomal escape, and reduces toxicity. Since 2008, many ionisable lipids have been created, but the field…
Read the article →Bioengineering & Translational Medicine2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Schlich M, Palomba R, Costabile G, Mizrahy S, Pannuzzo M, Peer D, Decuzzi P
Endosomal escape remains the major intracellular barrier for RNA therapeutics. Only a small fraction of RNA delivered by ionisable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) reaches the cytosol, where siRNA, miRNA, mRNA, and CRISPR components must act. A deeper mechanistic understanding is needed to design next-generation LNPs with…
Read the article →Trends in Molecular Medicine2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Likely Citation: Swingle Kl, Hamilton Ag, Mitchell Mj
mRNA is degraded by nucleases and cannot easily cross cell membranes because of its large size and negative charge. Delivery therefore requires encapsulation in vehicles such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to enable protein replacement, vaccines, and gene-editing applications. Onpattro was the first FDA-approved…
Read the article →Nature Reviews Materials2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Hou X, Zaks T, Langer R, Dong Y
mRNA has therapeutic potential for vaccines, protein replacement, cancer immunotherapy, cellular reprogramming, and genome editing, but it requires safe, effective, and stable delivery systems to protect it from degradation and enable cellular uptake and mRNA release. Lipid nanoparticles have entered the clinic for…
Read the article →Pharmaceutics2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Zak Mm, Zangi L
mRNA therapeutics are limited by innate immune activation, rapid RNase degradation, and inefficient delivery to target organs. Although LNPs are the only clinically approved RNA therapeutic carriers, most systemically delivered LNPs accumulate in the liver, so organ-specific delivery remains a major barrier for…
Read the article →Acta Biomaterialia2020ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Yusuke Sato, Nana Okabe, Yusuke Note, Kazuki Hashiba, Masatoshi Maeki, Manabu Tokeshi, Hideyoshi Harashima
Small-sized lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are attractive for tissue penetration but often lose potency because lipid components diffuse out and serum proteins adsorb onto poorly packed surfaces. The study asked how the hydrophobic scaffold structure of pH-sensitive cationic lipids affects small-LNP stability, lipid…
Read the article →Nature Communications2020ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery
Siddharth Patel, N. Ashwanikumar, Ema Robinson, Yan Xia, Cosmin Mihai, Joseph P. Griffith Iii, Shangguo Hou, Adam A. Esposito, Tatiana Ketova, Kevin Welsher, John L. Joyal, Örn Almarsson, Gaurav Sahay
Endosomal sequestration of lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) remains a formidable barrier to delivery, with only <2% of LNPs reaching the cytosol. The role of cholesterol structure in LNP-mediated mRNA delivery and endosomal escape was poorly understood. There is a need to decode the structural characteristics of…
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