15 Years on siRNA Delivery: Beyond the State-of-the-Art on Inorganic Nanoparticles for RNAi Therapeutics

Joao Conde, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Furong Tian, Dublin Institute of Technology
Alfredo Ambrosone, Istituto di Cibernetica, Via Campi Flegrei, Pozzuoli, Italy.
Yulán Hernandez, Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Mark McCully, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Catherine C. Berry, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Pedro Baptista, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, Portugal
Claudia Tortiglione, Istituto di Cibernetica, Via Campi Flegrei, Pozzuoli, Italy.
Jesus M. de la Fuent, Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón-CSIC/Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.

Document Type Article

Nano Today 07/2015;

Abstract

RNAi has always captivated scientists due to its tremendous power to modulate the phenotype of living organisms. This natural and powerful biological mechanism can now be harnessed to downregulate specific gene expression in diseased cells; opening up endless opportunities. Since most of the conventional siRNA delivery methods are limited by a narrow therapeutic index and significant side and off-target effects, we are now in the dawn of a new age in gene therapy driven by nanotechnology vehicles for RNAi therapeutics. Here, we outlook the “do’s and dont’s” of the inorganic RNAi nanomaterials developed in the last 15 years and the different strategies employed are compared and scrutinized, offering important suggestions for the next 15.