DNA Nanocarriers for Delivery of sgRNA/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein

Abstract

DNA has been widely employed as a building block for the construction of sophisticated nanostructures with pre-designed sizes and shapes by complementary base pairing. With outstanding programmability, addressability, and biocompatibility, DNA nanostructures have been further developed as nanocarriers for drug delivery in biomedical researches. Noticeably, DNA nanocarriers can be rationally designed for loading and delivering nucleic acid drugs based on their inherent homology. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas9) ribonucleoprotein-based gene editing system has also been efficiently delivered by DNA nanocarriers. In this review, we will summarize the recent progress in the design of versatile DNA nanocarriers, such as rolling circle amplification (RCA)-based DNA nanostructure, branched DNA, and DNA origami, for delivery of single-guide RNA (sgRNA)/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein. Furthermore, the challenges and future opportunities of DNA nanotechnology in the delivery of gene editing system will be discussed.

Keywords

• dna nanocarrier
• drug delivery
• sgrna/cas9 ribonucleoprotein
• gene editing
• gene therapy