title: Recent advances in the rational design of silica-based nanoparticles for gene therapy.
abstract: Gene therapy has attracted much attention in modern society and provides a promising approach for treating genetic disorders, diseases and cancers. Safe and effective vectors are vital tools to deliver genetic molecules to cells. This review summarizes recent advances in the rational design of silica-based nanoparticles and their applications in gene therapy. An overview of different types of genetic agents available for gene therapy is provided. The engineering of various silica nanoparticles is described, which can be used as versatile complexation tools for genetic agents and advanced gene therapy. Several challenges are raised and future research directions in the area of gene therapy using silica-based nanoparticles are proposed.
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Yuting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niut
authors.forename: Amirali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Popatt
authors.forename: Meihua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Surajit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karmakar
authors.forename: Wenyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Chengzhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000628:therapy; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide