Engineered polymeric nanoparticles to guide the cellular internalization and trafficking of small interfering
Amy E Arnold1, Petro Czupiel2, Molly Shoichet3
1Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H6, Canada; Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada.
Abstract:
Ribonucleic acid interference therapy is a promising cancer treatment, which uses small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to target and degrade messenger RNAs. Due to endogenous nuclease activity, siRNA is degraded rapidly, resulting in poor cell uptake and hence specificity. Moreover, it will not readily cross the cell membrane by passive diffusion. In order to take advantage of the therapeutic power of siRNA for the treatment of cancer, specialized delivery vehicles have been designed. In this review, we highlight advances in optimizing nanoparticle functionalization for guided siRNA delivery at the cellular level - that is, promoting cell uptake, escaping the endosome, and releasing siRNA from the delivery vehicle.
Related Concept Videos
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the...
Experimental RNAi
Small interfering RNAs (siRNA)
Site-Targeted Drug Delivery Systems: Polymeric Carriers


