Nanotechnology and DNA Delivery
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Nanotechnology and DNA Delivery Dan Luo Abstract Nonviral DNA delivery systems have great therapeutic and prophylactic potential, but their clinical utility has been limited by three major barriers: (1) inefficient uptake by the cell, (2) insufficient release of DNA within the cell, and (3) ineffective nuclear targeting and transport. Since the size of most cells is in the micrometer regime and the space inside a cell is extremely crowded, ideal DNA delivery systems must be in the nanometer range. Advancements in nanoscale science and nanotechnology have provided us with novel nanoparticles that may overcome all of these barriers, leading to higher-efficiency DNA delivery. This review article will focus on the recent developments in nanoscale DNA delivery systems that consist of chemical dendrimers, DNA dendrimers, nanospheres, nanolayers, nanorods, and nanotubes. The future of DNA delivery systems that interface with nanotechnology is also discussed. Keywords: DNA delivery, gene delivery, nanoparticles, nanotechnology.
DNA Delivery Scales: Milli versus Micro versus Nano Different medical settings require DNA delivery systems at different scales,1 from nanometer sizes to millimeter sizes (Table I). Nonviral DNA delivery methods are exceptionally well suited to meet these size requirements. Although it is relatively easy to meet size restrictions with current off-the-shelf chemicals, the efficiency and specificity of DNA delivery by nonviral methods are, not surprisingly, still quite poor compared with viral-mediated methods, due to billions of years of viral evolution that has greatly improved the ability of viruses to infect cells (i.e., to deliver their own viral DNA). Nevertheless, past and current nonviral systems have helped us understand the problems associated with nonviral methods and have pointed to new directions to solve them, especially in light of the rapid progress in nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology.
Nanotechnology:Top-Down Approach versus Bottom-Up Approach Nanotechnology, a term that may be currently overused in the popular media, does promise, by the U.S. government’s own estimation, a revolutionary future for the world. According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative meeting in 2003, new nano-products will reach $1 trillion USD annually in 5–10 years. In particular, new 654
nanomaterials beyond chemistry (i.e., nontraditional chemicals), including pharmaceuticals, will reach more than $500 billion per year. Whether it is hyperbole, fantasy, a true revolution, or a combination of all of these, nanotechnology is having an impact on all of science and technology. This is no exception in the drug delivery field. Indeed, nanoscale materials and devices are being created and explored for the purpose of drug delivery. Nanoscale materials (beyond chemistry) and devices (beyond microelectromechanical systems) can be achieved in general by either controlled etching, elimination, and layering of starting materials to the nanoscale (a top-down approach),
or by the controlled assembly of building
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