Lipid-coated calcium phosphate nanoparticles for nonviral gene therapy

Though calcium phosphate (CaP) nanoparticles have been utilized as transfection agents in laboratory settings for nearly half a century, their power as a platform for therapeutically focused approaches has only recently been realized. With regard to modern advances in lipid- and polymer-mediated transfection, we present liposome CaP, a novel combination of a stable yet acid-labile CaP core with a surface functional, asymmetric lipid bilayer. Herein, the structural and functional dynamics of such nanoparticles are described in detail, including alteration of hepatocellular tropism through PEGylation and a multifunctional approach to endosomal escape, along with primary therapeutic advances, which these nanoparticles contribute to the field overall. Through these and other multifunctional nanotechnologies for gene therapy, great promise is shown in their ability to tackle truly complex and mechanistically demanding diseases.