A Comprehensive Review on Intracellular Delivery

Abstract

Intracellular delivery is considered an indispensable process for various studies, ranging from medical applications (cell‐based therapy) to fundamental (genome‐editing) and industrial (biomanufacture) approaches. Conventional macroscale delivery systems critically suffer from such issues as low cell viability, cytotoxicity, and inconsistent material delivery, which have opened up an interest in the development of more efficient intracellular delivery systems. In line with the advances in microfluidics and nanotechnology, intracellular delivery based on micro‐ and nanoengineered platforms has progressed rapidly and held great promises owing to their unique features. These approaches have been advanced to introduce a smorgasbord of diverse cargoes into various cell types with the maximum efficiency and the highest precision. This review differentiates macro‐, micro‐, and nanoengineered approaches for intracellular delivery. The macroengineered delivery platforms are first summarized and then each method is categorized based on whether it employs a carrier‐ or membrane‐disruption‐mediated mechanism to load cargoes inside the cells. Second, particular emphasis is placed on the micro‐ and nanoengineered advances in the delivery of biomolecules inside the cells. Furthermore, the applications and challenges of the established and emerging delivery approaches are summarized. The topic is concluded by evaluating the future perspective of intracellular delivery toward the micro‐ and nanoengineered approaches.

Nanoengineered Neutrophils as a Cellular Sonosensitizer for Visual Sonodynamic Therapy of Malignant Tumors

“…The multifunctional living cells for disease diagnosis or treatment were generally obtained by purposefully adding one or more free drugs or nanoparticles with special functions to the original cells, and this process was commonly known as nanoengineering technology. [ 6 ] This technology needs to combine several traditional disciplines such as physics, engineering, biology, and medicine, which is an important tool for manipulating cells and tissues and has become an emerging field of biological science and technology. [ 7 ] The most common modified cells include red blood cells, immune cells, platelets, and stem cells, which have different physiological functions, such as long‐term blood circulation, transport function of endogenous substances and metabolites, targeting of inflammatory sites, and their own immune function.…”

Transient nuclear lamin A/C accretion aids in recovery from vapor nanobubble-induced permeabilisation of the plasma membrane

“…Efficient and safe introduction of exogenous cargo into the cytoplasm of the cell is an unrelenting quest. While a wide array of methods has been conceived for intracellular delivery, no single method is truly without caveats, let alone universally applicable [ 1 , 2 ]. Techniques for intracellular delivery are generally classified into carrier-based techniques and membrane disruption-mediated techniques [ 2 ].…”

Fusogenic Hybrid Extracellular Vesicles with PD-1 Membrane Proteins for the Cytosolic Delivery of Cargos

“…Intracellular transport is an essential process for the delivery of drugs that function in the cytosol, such as mRNA vaccines [ 1 ]. In addition, mRNA, siRNA, and other nucleic acid drugs require DDS carriers that can efficiently deliver drugs to the cytosol because the of the low stability and membrane permeability of the naked drugs [ 2 ].…”