A review of nanocarriers for the delivery of small interfering RNA

Increasing knowledge about molecular mechanisms of endogenous RNA interference (RNAi) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) has been incorporated into innovative nucleic acid medicines for treatment of diseases such as cancers. Although RNAi and siRNA have the potential to become powerful therapeutic drugs, their delivery to the target site represents a major challenge. The design and creation of nanocarriers for the safe and efficient delivery of siRNA towards their potential applications site is one of the challenging and rapidly growing areas of research since they have to overcome the commonly encountered biological barriers. In this review, we discuss the recent nanotechnological strategies for siRNA delivery by using different carriers such as liposomes, dendrimers and carbon nanotubes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.