What Are the Key Targeted Delivery Technologies of siRNA Now

Whilst significant advances have been made in the delivery of nucleic acids to mammalian cells, most of the used strategies do not distinguish between normal and cancer cells. The same challenge is also facing radioactive- and chemo-therapies which are highly toxic and poorly tolerated due to limited tumor specificity. Regardless of the nature of the drug, there is a need for developing a technology platform which targets drugs only to tumors cells, leaving normal cells undamaged. Among the targeting strategies, receptor-targeted delivery provides an innovative strategy to selectively direct therapeutics to cancer cells. Receptor-binding ligands (e.g., peptides, antibodies, aptamers) can be incorporated into gene delivery vesicles or directly conjugated to siRNA in the hope in promoting their localization in target cell expressing the cognate receptors. The present chapter discusses the current progress made in the specific delivery of siRNAs.