title: Stimuli-Responsive Polymeric Nanocarriers for Efficient Gene Delivery.
abstract: Gene therapy provides an alternative and effective method for treatment of genetic diseases and cancers that are refractory to conventional therapeutics. The success of gene therapy is largely dependent on the development of safe and effective gene delivery vectors for transporting genetic material from the blood stream to the cytoplasm or nucleus. Current gene vectors can be divided into viral and non-viral vectors. Although non-viral gene delivery carriers can offer some advantages, such as safety and facile fabrication, they do not possess the same high gene transfection efficiency as viral vectors due to a lack of functionality to overcome extra- and intracellular gene delivery obstacles. On the basis of these disadvantages, researchers are developing "smart" non-viral gene-delivery carriers in order to overcome the physiological barriers and realize efficient gene transfection. These "smart" stimuli-responsive carriers can undergo physical or chemical reactions in response to internal tumor-specific environments, such as pH conditions, redox potentials, enzymatic activations and thermal gradients, as well as external stimulations, such as ultrasound, light, magnetic fields, and electrical fields. Furthermore, "smart" carriers can also be triggered by dual or multiple combinations of different stimuli. In this review, we highlight the recent stimuli-sensitive polymeric nanocarriers for gene delivery, and we discuss the potential of combining multiple stimuli-responsive strategies for future gene therapy applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yingqin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Jinbiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: PCFM Lab of Ministry of Education, School of Material Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.
authors.forename: Du
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China. liujie56@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: PCFM Lab of Ministry of Education, School of Material Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China. Shuaixt@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xintao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shuai
mesh_terms: D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D011108:Polymers
keywords: Gene therapy; Nanocarriers; Non-viral vector; Polymer; Stimuli-responsive