Center for Theragnosis, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 136-791, Republic of Korea.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2014 Aug;3(8):1182-93. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201300607. Epub 2014 Feb 28.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a naturally occurring regulatory process that controls posttranscriptional gene expression. Small interfering RNA (siRNA), a common form of RNAi-based therapeutics, offers new opportunities for cancer therapy via silencing specific genes, which are associated to cancer progress. However, clinical applications of RNAi-based therapy are still limited due to the easy degradation of siRNA during body circulation and the difficulty in the delivery of siRNA to desired tissues and cells. Thus, there have been many efforts to develop efficient siRNA delivery systems, which protect siRNA from serum nucleases and deliver siRNA to the intracellular region of target cells. Here, the recent advances in siRNA nanocarriers, which possess tumor-targeting ability are reviewed; various nanoparticle systems and their antitumor effects are summarized. The development of multifunctional nanocarriers for theranostics or combinatorial therapy is also discussed.
RNA 干扰 (RNAi) 是一种自然发生的调节过程，可控制转录后基因表达。小干扰 RNA (siRNA) 是 RNAi 治疗的常见形式，通过沉默与癌症进展相关的特定基因，为癌症治疗提供了新的机会。然而，由于 siRNA 在体内循环中容易降解以及难以将 siRNA 递送至所需组织和细胞，RNAi 治疗的临床应用仍然受到限制。因此，人们已经做出了许多努力来开发有效的 siRNA 递送系统，这些系统可以保护 siRNA 免受血清核酸酶的侵害，并将 siRNA 递送至靶细胞的细胞内区域。在这里，我们回顾了具有肿瘤靶向能力的 siRNA 纳米载体的最新进展；总结了各种纳米颗粒系统及其抗肿瘤作用。还讨论了用于治疗或联合治疗的多功能纳米载体的开发。
