Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite advances, standard treatments often show a limited effectiveness associated to low bioavailability and the lack of selectivity for tumour cells. Therefore, the development of new effective and targeted therapeutics is a key challenge. Nucleic acid (NA) therapeutics, including siRNAs, miRNAs/antimiRs, gRNAs and ASO, represent a powerful tool for a precision and personalized therapy of cancer.
However, their efficiency is limited by their intrinsic physicochemical properties including their hydrophobicity and susceptibility to enzymatic digestion, and the lack of tumour specificity. Advances in NA design improving stability have been made. However, their broad clinical applicability requires the development of effective delivery systems able to protect nucleic acid therapeutics and allow their specific release to the diseased tissues, avoiding the action on healthy organs, upon systemic administration. Improvements in NA delivery systems will strongly influence their affirmation as concrete therapeutic options for cancer.
This special issue aims to provide an overview of the latest advances in the strategies for the delivery of nucleic acid-based therapeutics to cancer cells. Reviews and original articles from worldwide experts in the fields of chemistry, biology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutics are welcome.
Subtopics include, but are not limited to:
- viral and non-viral vectors
- aptamer-based systems
- si/miRNA delivery
- mRNA delivery
- combined delivery of drugs and nucleic acids
- nanoparticles-based systems
- trafficking mechanisms
- biodistribution
- efficacy studies in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro
