Nucleic acid nano-carriers for delivery of Antisense and RNAi therapeutics

Nucleic acid nanotechnology presents an exciting avenue for manufacturing tailored nanoscale biomaterials with precise structures, spatial precision, and exceptional biocompatibility. These nucleic acid-based nanomaterials, here referred as nano-carriers can have versatile applications in bio-imaging, diagnostics, and therapy. In this review, we survey current progress made in multifunctional nucleic acid nano-carriers, particularly in the context of delivering antisense and RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. As RNAi technology has emerged as a potent instrument for conducting functional genomic analyses and holds potential as an effective approach for crafting targeted gene-silencing treatments for viral infections, cancer and other diseases in the future, our focus is on exploring RNAi as a therapeutic avenue, taking into account challenges such as the expense of RNAi triggers, delivering RNAi efficiently to the target site, and addressing off-target and nontarget effects, while also recognizing promising opportunities within the field of biomedical research.