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Papers, explained in our own words

Every entry summarises what the study set out to test, what it found and why it changes how we design delivery systems. Browse research and reviews or search the collection.

571 articles

Showing 1–24 of 45 articles · Keyword: viral vectors Clear keyword

Molecular therapy. Oncology2026ReviewNon-viral Gene DeliveryDrug Delivery

1. Gene therapy as an upcoming technique in the treatment of cancer: A cellular solution to a cellular problem

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…

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Viruses2026ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

2. Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis: Viral and Non-Viral Delivery Strategies

Zhang M, Mohess J, Cheung J, Du Q, Qiu J, Wang J

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent joint disease, which is pathologically characterized by articular cartilage degradation, chronic synovial inflammation, subchondral bone remodeling, and osteophyte formation. Patients with OA suffer from joint pain, deformity, and functional impairment. Current therapies…

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International Journal of Nanomedicine2022ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

3. Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated Delivery of Plasmid DNA in Cardiomyocytes

Sérgio Scalzo, Anderson K. Santos, Heloisa A. S. Ferreira, Pedro A. Costa, Pedro H. D. M. Prazeres, Natalia J. A. Da Silva, Lays C. Guimarães, Mário De Morais E Silva, Marco T. R. Rodrigues Alves, Celso T. R. Viana, Itamar C. G. Jesus, Alice P. Rodrigues, Alexander Birbrair, Anderson O. Lobo, Freder

Cardiomyocytes are hard-to-transfect cells, and gene therapy for cardiovascular disease is limited by insufficient delivery to cardiac tissue, nucleic acid degradation, and safety concerns with viral vectors. A safe, effective non-viral platform for pDNA delivery to cardiomyocytes is needed. LNP4 was the top…

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Bioengineering2021ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

4. Stabilization of Poly (β-Amino Ester) Nanoparticles for the Efficient Intracellular Delivery of PiggyBac Transposon

Rodgers, T., Muzzio, N., Watson, C., & Romero, G. (2021).

Gene-editing tools are large plasmid constructs that cannot spontaneously enter mammalian cells, and viral vectors are limited by cargo size, immunogenicity, and manufacturing challenges. PBAE nanoparticles are promising nonviral carriers, but unmodified PEG-PDHA nanoparticles release encapsulated plasmid DNA too…

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Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

5. Recent progress in targeted delivery vectors based on biomimetic nanoparticles

Chen L, Hong W, Ren W, Xu T, Qian Z, He Z.

Synthetic nanoparticles face physiological barriers, RES clearance, and unintended biological interactions despite PEGylation and ligand grafting. Biological vectors—cell membranes, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and viruses—offer biocompatibility, biodegradability, immune evasion, and natural targeting. This review…

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Trends in Molecular Medicine2021ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

6. Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated Delivery of Mrna Therapeutics and Vaccines

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…

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Applied Materials Today2020ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

7. Bispecific T-cell Engager (BiTE) Immunotherapy of Ovarian Cancer Based on MIL-88A MOF/MC Gene Delivery System

Jing Zhao, Danping Lu, Sergio Moya, Haoying Yan, Miaojuan Qiu, Junzong Chen, Xincheng Wang, Yang Li, Haobo Pan, Guochuang Chen, Guocheng Wang

Bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment, but clinical application is limited by high production costs and short in vivo half-life of BiTE proteins. A gene delivery system that enables sustained in vivo expression of BiTE could overcome these limitations, but existing non-viral…

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Bioconjugate Chemistry2020ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

8. Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated mRNA Delivery for Human CAR T Cell Engineering

Margaret M. Billingsley, Nathan Singh, Pranali Ravikumar, Rui Zhang, Carl H. June, Michael J. Mitchell

CAR T cell therapy currently relies on viral vectors or electroporation for T cell engineering. Viral vectors cause permanent CAR expression and carry safety/manufacturing limitations, while electroporation is cytotoxic and requires specialised equipment. A safer, efficient non-viral mRNA delivery platform for human…

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Nature Communications2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

9. The once and future gene therapy

Karen Bulaklak And Charles A. Gersbach

Gene therapy is at an inflection point: recent approvals and clinical successes have validated the field, but broader application is still limited by immune responses to vectors, inefficient delivery outside the retina and liver, and regulatory frameworks that are poorly suited to personalised, potentially curative…

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Pharmaceutics2020ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

10. Role of Lipid-Based and Polymer-Based Non-Viral Vectors in Nucleic Acid Delivery for Next-Generation Gene Therapy

Wahane A, Waghmode A, Kapphahn A, Dhur K, Gupta A, Bahal R

Nucleic acid analogs and genome-editing proteins have broad therapeutic potential, but clinical translation is limited by poor cell- and organ-specific delivery, endosomal entrapment, enzymatic degradation, and short bioavailability. The review examines lipid- and polymer-based non-viral vectors as strategies to…

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American Journal of Translational Research (Am J Transl Res)2019ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

11. PiggyBac Transposon System with Polymeric Gene Carrier Transfected into Human T Cells

CAR-T cell therapy relies mainly on retroviral/lentiviral vectors, which carry risks of carcinogenicity and complex manufacturing. PiggyBac transposon systems offer a safer, simpler non-viral alternative for stable transgene expression, but primary T lymphocytes are difficult to transfect efficiently. A polymeric…

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International Journal of Pharmaceutics2018ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

12. ε-Poly-L-Lysine/Plasmid DNA Nanoplexes for Efficient Gene Delivery In Vivo

Haimanti Mandal, Sameer S. Katiyar, Rajan Swami, Varun Kushwah, Parmeshwar B. Katare, Anand Kumar Meka, Sanjay K. Banerjee, Amirali Popat, Sanyog Jain

Non-viral gene delivery vectors are safer than viral vectors but often suffer from lower transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity. ε-Poly-L-lysine (ε-PLL) is a naturally occurring, FDA GRAS cationic polymer with low molecular weight and potential for low toxicity, but its use as a pDNA nanocarrier for efficient in…

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Nature Reviews Chemistry2018ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

13. Synthetic materials at the forefront of 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…

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International Journal of Pharmaceutics2017ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

14. Nasal Vaccination with Poly(β-amino ester)–Poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) Hybrid Nanoparticles

Genada Sinani, Melike Sessevmez, M. Koray Gök, Saadet Özgümüş, Alper Okyar, H. Oya Alpar, Erdal Cevher

Mucosal vaccination can stimulate both mucosal and systemic immunity, but free protein antigens generally induce poor systemic immune responses and require adjuvants. There is a need for a safe, effective nasal vaccine carrier that improves antigen stability, uptake, and immunogenicity, especially for poorly…

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2017ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

15. Molecular nanoparticle-based gene delivery systems

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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International Journal of Nanomedicine2015ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

16. An Efficient Method for In Vitro Gene Delivery via Regulation of Cellular Endocytosis Pathway

Jing Luo, Caixia Li, Jianlin Chen, Gang Wang, Rong Gao, Zhongwei Gu

Nonviral gene carriers (cationic polymers and lipids) are promising alternatives to viral vectors, but their transfection efficiencies are much lower. While extensive efforts have focused on chemical modification of gene delivery materials, simple optimisation of the transfection procedure itself—beyond standard…

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ACS Nano2015ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

17. Polymeric Nanoparticles for Non-Viral Gene Therapy Extend Brain Tumor Survival In Vivo

Antonella Mangraviti, Stephany Yi Tzeng, Kristen Lynn Kozielski, Yuan Wang, Yike Jin, David Gullotti, Mariangela Pedone, Nitsa Buaron, Ann Liu, David R. Wilson, Sarah K. Hansen, Fausto J. Rodriguez, Guo-Dong Gao, Francesco Dimeco, Henry Brem, Alessandro Olivi, Betty Tyler, Jordan J. Green

Glioblastoma remains highly lethal with poor prognosis despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Gene therapy is a promising alternative, but viral vectors carry safety risks. Non-viral polymeric nanoparticles are safer but have historically shown poor in vivo efficacy. A biodegradable poly(beta-amino ester)…

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Journal of drug targeting2015ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

18. Targeted polymeric nanoparticles for cancer gene therapy

Kim J, Wilson Dr, Zamboni Cg, Green Jj

Cancer gene therapy requires safe and efficient delivery of nucleic acids, but viral vectors carry risks of immunogenicity and insertional tumorigenicity, while non-viral polymeric vectors are safer but less efficient. The review addresses the need for targeted polymeric nanoparticles that achieve tumour-specific…

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Nature Reviews Genetics2014ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

19. Non-viral vectors for gene-based therapy

Yin H, Kanasty Rl, Eltoukhy Aa, Vegas Aj, Dorkin Jr, Anderson Dg.

Gene-based therapy has potential to treat a wide range of diseases, but clinical success is limited by delivery barriers. Viral vectors, while efficient, carry risks of carcinogenesis, immunogenicity, broad tropism, limited packaging capacity, and manufacturing difficulties. Non-viral vectors offer improved safety…

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Journal of Drug Targeting (J Drug Target)2013ReviewNon-viral Gene Delivery

20. Strategies on the nuclear-targeted delivery of genes

Jing Yao, Ying Fan, Yuanke Li, And Leaf Huang

Non-viral gene delivery systems are safer than viral vectors but are highly inefficient at nuclear delivery. Only ~10–20% of applied plasmid DNA enters targeted cells, and only ~1–5% of the applied dose reaches the nucleus. The nuclear envelope is a major barrier to transgene delivery, and there is a need for “smart”…

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Small2012ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

21. A novel assay for quantifying the number of plasmids encapsulated by polymer nanoparticles

Nupura S. Bhise, Ron B. Shmueli, Jose Gonzalez, Jordan J. Green

Non-viral polymeric nanoparticles are promising for gene therapy and stem cell reprogramming, but the number of plasmids complexed per particle affects transfection efficiency and co-delivery of multiple plasmids. Existing methods for quantifying plasmids per particle have significant drawbacks, and few studies have…

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Journal of Controlled Release2012ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

22. Transfecting Hard-to-Transfect Lymphoma/Leukemia Cells Using a Simple Cationic Polymer Nanocomplex

Nianxi Zhao, Jianjun Qi, Zihua Zeng, Parag Parekh, Chung-Che Chang, Ching-Hsuan Tung, Youli Zu

Suspension lymphoma/leukemia cells are notoriously hard to transfect with non-viral vectors. Existing methods such as Lipofectamine give poor plasmid DNA delivery in these cells, and viral methods raise safety concerns. A simple, efficient, biodegradable cationic polymer nanocomplex is needed for gene delivery to…

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International Journal of Nanomedicine (Dove Press open-access article; exact citation details not fully provided in the 2011ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

23. Synthetic Poly(ester amine) and Poly(amido amine) Nanoparticles for Efficient DNA and siRNA Delivery to Human Endothelial Cells

Stephany Y. Tzeng, Peter H. Yang, Warren L. Grayson, Jordan J. Green

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) are relevant to tissue engineering, cancer therapy, and angiogenesis-related diseases. Non-viral vectors are safer than viruses but often less efficient. Biodegradable poly(ester amine) (PEA) and poly(amido amine) (PAA) nanoparticles were developed and screened for…

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Journal of Controlled Release2011ResearchNon-viral Gene Delivery

24. Systemic gene transfer of polyethylenimine (PEI)–plasmid DNA complexes to neonatal mice

Wong Sp, Argyros O, Howe Sj, Harbottle Rp

Nonviral vectors have rarely been tested in neonatal mice because of poor delivery efficiency, yet early gene therapy could prevent irreversible disease, requires lower vector doses due to small body size, and may avoid immune reactions before immune maturation. Viral vectors carry risks such as insertional…

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