Molecular therapy. Oncology2026ReviewNon-viral Gene DeliveryDrug Delivery
Bedada At, Genet S
Cancer remains a formidable global health challenge, representing the second leading cause of mortality worldwide. In 2023, there were approximately 18.5 million new cancer cases and over 10 million deaths globally, with projections estimating 30.5 million new cases and 18.6 million deaths annually by 2050. In the…
Read the article →2023ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Pinto Is, Cordeiro Ra, Faneca H
CAR T cell therapy is FDA/EMA-approved for B cell malignancies and multiple myeloma, but manufacturing relies on viral vectors—associated with safety concerns, high cost, and production challenges—or electroporation, which can be highly cytotoxic. Nanosystems may offer a safer, cost-effective alternative, but T cells…
Read the article →Frontiers in Oncology2022ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Tianqing Xin, Li Cheng, Chuchao Zhou, Yimeng Zhao, Zhenhua Hu, Xiaoyan Wu
CAR-T cell therapy has shown impressive success in haematological malignancies, but systemic toxicity (CRS, ICANS, on-target/off-tumour effects) and the complex, costly, individualized manufacturing process of autologous CAR-T cells hinder broader application. Universal allogeneic CAR-T cells have encountered safety…
Read the article →Poly (beta-amino ester) as an in vivo nanocarrier for therapeutic nucleic acids.2022ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Sadeqi Nezhad, M
Therapeutic nucleic acids require safe and effective in vivo delivery vectors. Most gene and cell therapies rely on ex vivo gene delivery, which is laborious, time-consuming, and costly. PBAE is a promising biodegradable synthetic cationic polymer for in vivo gene delivery due to its transfection efficiency…
Read the article →Stem Cell Research & Therapy2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Farough Marofi, Roza Motavalli, Vladimir A. Safonov, Lakshmi Thangavelu, Alexei Valerievich Yumashev, Markov Alexander, Navid Shomali, Max Stanley Chartrand, Yashwant Pathak, Mostafa Jarahian, Sepideh Izadi, Ali Hassanzadeh, Naghmeh Shirafkan, Safa Tahmasebi, Farhad Motavalli Khiavi
CAR T cell therapy has transformed treatment of hematologic malignancies, but its efficacy in solid tumours remains unsupported. Solid tumours present distinct barriers—antigen heterogeneity, poor T cell trafficking/infiltration, and an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment (TME)—that limit CAR T cell function…
Read the article →Blood Cancer Journal2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Robert C. Sterner, Rosalie M. Sterner
CAR-T cell therapy has produced remarkable clinical responses in certain B cell leukemias and lymphomas, but major limitations remain—including life-threatening toxicities, limited efficacy in solid tumours, antigen escape, poor persistence/trafficking, and an immunosuppressive microenvironment. This review addresses…
Read the article →Trends in Biotechnology* (as indicated in the article’s Key Figure footer)2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Qurrat Ul Ain, Estefania V.R. Campos, Ariel Huynh, Dominik Witzigmann, Sarah Hedtrich
Gene therapies are powerful tools to prevent, treat, and cure human diseases, but their application to skin diseases has received little attention despite the easy accessibility of skin and urgent medical need. The main obstacle is the unique barrier properties of human skin, which severely limit absorption of…
Read the article →Journal of Materials Chemistry B2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Rih-Yang Huang, Zhuo-Hao Liu, Wei-Han Weng, Chien-Wen Chang
Gene therapy requires safe, precise, efficient, and cost-effective delivery. Viral vectors are efficient but face manufacturing, cost, and safety challenges; non-viral vectors are safer and more scalable but often have low delivery efficiency. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have emerged as a promising strategy to…
Read the article →Biochemical Pharmacology*, Volume 173, 2020, Article 113648 DOI/2020ReviewDrug Delivery
Anne Vejux, Dehbia Abed-Vieillard, Khadija Hajji, Amira Zarrouk, John J. Mackrill, Shubhrima Ghosh, Thomas Nury, Aline Yamminse, Mohamed Zaibih, Wafa Mihoubi, Habiba Bouchabi, Boubker Nasser, Yael Grosjean, Gérard Lizard
7-Ketocholesterol (7KC) and 7β-hydroxycholesterol (7β-OHC) are major auto-oxidation products of cholesterol that accumulate in cardiovascular disease, age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), neurodegenerative disorders, and inflammatory bowel diseases. While their cytotoxicity (oxidative stress, organelle…
Read the article →Blood Advances2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Annika M. Frank, Angela H. Braun, Lea Scheib, Shivani Agarwal, Irene C. Schneider, Floriane Fusil, Severine Perian, Ugur Sahin, Frederic B. Thalheimer, Els Verhoeyen, Christian J. Buchholz
Conventional lentiviral vectors (LVs) are not selective for T cells and cannot efficiently transduce resting or minimally stimulated T lymphocytes, which limits their use for direct in vivo T-cell gene delivery. There is a need for vectors that can both target T cells specifically and activate them sufficiently to…
Read the article →Bioconjugate Chemistry2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Francia V, Schiffelers Rm, Cullis Pr, Witzigmann D
LNPs are clinically advanced vectors for siRNA, mRNA, and DNA delivery, but their in vivo behaviour is strongly influenced by the biological environment. Upon administration, biomolecules adsorb to the LNP surface and form a “biomolecular corona,” which defines the particle’s biological identity, affects stability…
Read the article →International Journal of Nanomedicine2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Chen, C.-K.; Huang, P.-K.; Law, W.-C.; Chu, C.-H.; Chen, N.-T.; Lo, L.-W
Gene therapy is limited by the fragile nature of therapeutic DNA/RNA and by safety concerns with viral vectors. Non-viral polymeric vectors are attractive, but conventional cationic polymers such as PEI, PDMAEMA, and PLL are often non-degradable, causing accumulation, cytotoxicity, and poor gene unpacking. This…
Read the article →Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Karlsson, J.; Rhodes, K. R.; Green, J. J.; Tzeng, S. Y
Non-viral gene delivery needs safe and efficient carriers. PBAEs are biodegradable cationic polymers with promising transfection activity, but they face challenges such as instability in physiological fluids, positive-charge toxicity, and limited systemic delivery. This review summarises PBAE properties, advantages…
Read the article →Oncology Reports2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Rimjhim Mohanty, Chitran Roy Chowdhury, Solomon Arega, Prakriti Sen, Pooja Ganguly, Niladri Ganguly
Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, and conventional treatments and cytotoxic immunotherapies have limitations. Because tumours are complex and involve multiple genetic and cellular factors in tumorigenesis and metastasis, there is a need for an immunotherapy that targets tumours at both cellular and…
Read the article →Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Rachel S. Riley, Carl H. June, Robert Langer, Michael J. Mitchell.
Immunotherapy has become powerful but broad implementation limited by inability to control immune modulation; serious adverse effects including autoimmunity, nonspecific inflammation. Need delivery technologies to improve efficacy and safety. Numbers.
Read the article →Nature Reviews Immunology2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Søren R. Paludan, Line S. Reinert, Veit Hornung
DNA in abnormal cellular compartments (cytosol, endosomes, micronuclei) is a potent danger signal for the innate immune system, primarily known for inducing type I interferons and IL-1β. More recently, it has become clear that cytosolic DNA also triggers various forms of programmed cell death (PCD), but the pathways…
Read the article →Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation2019ReviewDrug Delivery
PLA and PLGA are FDA-approved, biodegradable polymers widely used for micro- and nanoparticle drug delivery, but their clinical performance depends on biocompatibility, degradation behaviour, and drug-release control. This review addresses the need to understand PLA/PLGA tissue responses, degradation pathways…
Read the article →Molecules2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Thomas, T. J.; Tajmir-Riahi, H.-A.; Pillai, C. K. S
Gene therapy requires efficient delivery of genetic material, but viral vectors carry risks of immunogenicity, toxicity, and cancer formation. Cationic polymers such as polyethyleneimine (PEI) can condense DNA and facilitate delivery, but their lack of biodegradation causes significant toxicity due to polymer…
Read the article →Journal of King Saud University – Science2019ReviewDrug Delivery
Venditti, I
Polymeric nanocarriers such as dendrimers, micelles, nanoparticles, nanogels, nanocapsules, and vesicles are widely investigated for drug delivery, but their morphology, surface chemistry, and functionalisation strongly influence drug loading, controlled release, and targeting. This review addresses the need for a…
Read the article →Journal of Controlled Release2019ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Cordeiro, R. A.; Serra, A.; Coelho, J. F. J.; Faneca, H
Gene therapy requires safe and effective delivery vectors. PBAEs are biodegradable cationic polymers with excellent gene delivery properties, but a comprehensive and critical overview of their use as gene carriers is lacking. This review provides the first comprehensive and critical overview of PBAE-based gene…
Read the article →Human Gene Therapy* (as indicated by article context and references)2018ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Yao Xiao, Kun Shi, Ying Qu, Bingyang Chu, Zhiyong Qian
In the past 10 years, many clinical nano-gene therapy trials have been discontinued due to poor efficacy and serious side effects. There is a critical need to design suitable gene delivery systems that can protect nucleic acids, enhance transfection efficiency, penetrate deep into tumours, and remain stable and safe…
Read the article →Nature Reviews Chemistry2018ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Irene Lostalé-Seijo And Javier Montenegro
Gene therapy has enormous therapeutic potential, but clinical translation is limited by the delivery problem: nucleic acids are negatively charged, unstable, and must overcome multiple biological barriers to reach their intracellular site of action. Viral vectors are efficient but suffer from immunogenicity, limited…
Read the article →Bioscience Reports2017ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Haiqing Bai, Gillian M. Schiralli Lester, Laura C. Petishnok, David A. Dean
Productive gene transfer requires plasmid DNA to not only enter cells but also traffic through the cytoplasm and cross the nuclear envelope. Most transfection strategies focus on membrane entry and promoter choice, but cytoplasmic trafficking and nuclear import are critical, rate-limiting barriers—especially because…
Read the article →2017ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery
Jiménez Blanco Jl, Benito Jm, Ortiz Mellet C, García Fernández Jm.
Nonviral gene delivery lacks molecularly well-defined carriers suitable for rigorous structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies. Viral vectors raise immunogenicity, cost, and cargo-size concerns, while polymers, dendrimers, and cationic lipids are often polydisperse or supramolecularly ill-defined. The review…
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