Nanoparticles boost therapeutic potential of siRNA drugs

But the specific delivery of siRNAs to target cells to exert their effects remains a significant challenge. A novel nanoparticle-based approach that enables more efficient delivery of siRNA drugs is presented in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com).

The article is available on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website (http://www.liebertpub.com/nat).

Compared to a commonly used lipid-based transport agent, the cSCK nanoparticles described in this article better protected siRNAs from being degraded in the bloodstream and were associated with greater gene silencing efficiency of siRNA drugs.

The study authors, Yuefei Shen, Huafeng Fang, Ke Zhang, and John-Stephen Taylor, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and Ritu Shrestha and Karen Wooley, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, attribute the better gene silencing efficiency achieved with cSCKs with improved cell uptake of the siRNAs. They present their findings in the article “Effective Protection and Transfection of siRNA by Cationic Shell-Crosslinked Knedel-Like Nanoparticles (cSCKs).” (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/nat.2012.0390)

“The potential of siRNAs as therapeutic agents is immense, but we still have to develop better and more targeted delivery methods for many diseases,” says Executive Editor Fintan Steele, PhD, SomaLogic, Inc., Boulder, CO. “The work of Shen and colleagues demonstrates that nanotechnology approaches are rapidly progressing towards the goal of meeting the challenge of delivery.”

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is under the editorial leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Bruce A. Sullenger, PhD, Duke Translational Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, and C.A. Stein, MD, PhD, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA; and Executive Editor Fintan Steele, PhD (SomaLogic, Boulder, CO).

About the Journal

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that focuses on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related compounds to alter gene expression. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is the Official Journal of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (http://www.oligotherapeutics.org). Complete tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website (http://www.liebertpub.com/nat).
About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Human Gene Therapy and Human Gene Therapy Methods, Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, and DNA and Cell Biology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers website (http://www.liebertpub.com).
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