RNA Drug Delivery Using Biogenic Nanovehicles for Cancer Therapy

Abstract

RNA-based therapies have been promising method for treating all kinds of diseases, and four siRNA-based drugs and two mRNA-based drugs have been approved and are on the market now. However, none of them is applied for cancer treatment. This is not only because of the complexity of the tumor microenvironment, but also due to the intrinsic obstacles of RNAs. Until now, all kinds of strategies have been developed to improve the performance of RNAs for cancer therapy, especially the nanoparticle-based ones using biogenic materials. They are much more compatible with less toxicity compared to the ones using synthetic polymers, and the most widely studied biogenic materials are oligonucleotides, exosomes, and cell membranes. Particular characteristics make them show different capacities in internalization and endosomal escape as well as specific targeting. In this paper, we systematically summarize the RNA-based nano-delivery systems using biogenic materials for cancer therapy, and we believe this review will provide a valuable reference for researchers involved in the field of biogenic delivery and RNA-based therapies for cancer treatment.

Recent Advances in Kaolinite Nanoclay as Drug Carrier for Bioapplications: A Review

“…[5,19] Biological nanocarriers include three major categories based on their primary composition of proteins (gelatin, albumin, and silk protein), [20] polysaccharides (chitosan, sodium alginate, cyclodextrin, and pectin), [21] or nucleic acids. [5,22] Several physiological phenomena and diseases of the human body occur at the nanometric scale; among the nanoscale molecular machines, proteins as the bearers of life activities and nucleic acids as the carriers of genetic information bear most of the physiological activities in the organism. [20] The unique characteristics of biological nanocarriers facilitate the development of ideal natural drug carrier materials.…”

“…[39,40] Inorganic nanocarriers can exhibit a stimulus-responsive release function that can specifically release drugs in response to external triggers (heat, light, and magnetic fields) in a tumor microenvironment to avoid recognition of anticancer drugs by drug efflux transport proteins; [41,42] at the same time, they can carry therapeutic genes for synergistic therapeutic effects because of their easily modified surfaces. [22] Moreover, they can provide a multifunctional platform for cancer therapy, such as thermotherapy. [43] More importantly, these inorganic nanocarriers can also enable molecular imaging, which aids in monitoring the drug delivery process and treatment outcomes to improve therapeutic efficacy.…”