The Delivery of RNA-Interference Therapies Based on Engineered Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Regeneration

Tingting Yu; Hufei Wang; Yunfan Zhang; Xing Wang; Bing Han

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2020.00445

The Delivery of RNA-Interference Therapies Based on Engineered Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Regeneration

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 May 12:8:445. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00445. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Tingting Yu¹, Hufei Wang^{2

3}, Yunfan Zhang¹, Xing Wang^{2

3}, Bing Han¹

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Laboratory for Digital and Material Technology of Stomatology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology, Department of Orthodontics, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China.
² Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is an efficient post-transcriptional gene modulation strategy mediated by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). Since its discovery, RNAi has been utilized extensively to diagnose and treat diseases at both the cellular and molecular levels. However, the application of RNAi therapies in bone regeneration has not progressed to clinical trials. One of the major challenges for RNAi therapies is the lack of efficient and safe delivery vehicles that can actualize sustained release of RNA molecules at the target bone defect site and in surrounding cells. One promising approach to achieve these requirements is encapsulating RNAi molecules into hydrogels for delivery, which enables the nucleic acids to be delivered as RNA conjugates or within nanoparticles. Herein, we reviewed recent investigations into RNAi therapies for bone regeneration where RNA delivery was performed by hydrogels.

Keywords: RNA interference; bone regeneration; drug delivery; hydrogel; tissue engineering.

Publication types

Review