Self-Assembled Plasmid Delivery System for PPM1D Knockout to Reverse Tumor Malignancy

Peptide-based non-viral gene delivery: A comprehensive review of the advances and challenges

Gene therapy is the most effective treatment option for diseases, but its effectiveness is affected by the choice and design of gene carriers. The genes themselves have to pass through multiple barriers in order to enter the cell and therefore require additional vectors to carry them inside the cell. In gene therapy, peptides have unique properties and potential as gene carriers, which can effectively deliver genes into specific cells or tissues, protect genes from degradation, improve gene transfection efficiency, and enhance gene targeting and biological responsiveness. This paper reviews the research progress of peptides and their derivatives in the field of gene delivery recently, describes the obstacles encountered by foreign materials to enter the interior of the cell, and introduces the following classes of functional peptides that can carry materials into the interior of the cell, and assist in transmembrane translocation of carriers, thus breaking through endosomal traps to enable successful entry of genetic materials into the nucleus of the cell. The paper also discusses the combined application of peptide vectors with other vectors to enhance its transfection ability, explores current challenges encountered by peptide vectors, and looks forward to future developments in the field.

Potential roles of hyaluronic acid in in vivo CAR T cell reprogramming for cancer immunotherapy

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has recently shown unprecedented clinical efficacy for cancer treatment, particularly of hematological malignancies. However, the complex manufacturing processes that involve ex vivo genetic modification of autologous T cells limits its therapeutic application. CAR T cells generated in vivo provide a valid alternative immunotherapy, "off-the-shelf", for cancer treatment. This approach requires carriers for the delivery of CAR-encoding constructs, which are plasmid DNA or messenger RNA, to T cells for CAR expression to help eradicate the tumor. As such, there are a growing number of studies reporting gene delivery systems for in vivo CAR T cell therapy based on viral vectors and polymeric nanoparticles. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural biopolymer that can serve for gene delivery, because of its inherent properties of cell recognition and internalization, as well as its biodegradability, biocompatibility, and presence of functional groups for the chemical conjugation of targeting ligands. In this review, the potential of HA in the delivery of CAR constructs is discussed on the basis of previous experience of HA-based nanoparticles for gene therapy. Furthermore, current studies on CAR carriers for in vivo-generated CAR T cells are included, giving an idea of a rational design of HA-based systems for the more efficient delivery of CAR to circulating T cells.

Non-viral delivery of the CRISPR/Cas system: DNA versus RNA versus RNP

Since its discovery, the CRISPR/Cas technology has rapidly become an essential tool in modern biomedical research. The opportunities to specifically modify and correct genomic DNA has also raised big hope...

Hyaluronic Acid-Conjugated Nanoparticles for the Targeted Delivery of Cabazitaxel to CD44-Overexpressing Glioblastoma Cells

In decades, the efficiency of glioma therapy is far from satisfaction due to the inability of most therapeutics to accumulate at the glioblastoma (GBM) site. Therefore, it is urgent to develop novel tumor-targeted delivery systems for more optimized and effective glioma treatment. In this study, hyaluronic acid modified MPEG-PDLLA polymer (HAML) nanoparticles were used to encapsulate the cabazitaxel (Cab), creating Cab loaded HAML nanoparticles (Cab/HAML NPs) for glioma therapy both in vitro and in vivo. MTT assay and apoptotic study indicated Cab/HAML NPs induced a significant cell growth inhibition and more apoptosis of C6 cells than free Cab in vitro. In vivo study showed that Cab/HAML NPs could significantly improve chemotherapeutic effect to C6 tumor-bearing rats compared with free Cab. The median survival rate of Cab/HAML NPs-treated groups (30 days) was remarkably longer than the other groups treated with control (20 days), free Cab (19 days) and Cab/ML NPs (26 days). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that Cab/HAML NPs improved Cab’s anti-tumor effect via improvement of tumor cell apoptosis, inhibition of tumor cell proliferation and a significant decrease in tumor angiogenesis. Together, our study suggested that Cab/HAML NPs might show promise for application to glioma therapy.