Solid lipid nanoparticles for applications in gene therapy: a review of the state of the art.

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Gene therapy represents a new paradigm in the prevention and treatment of many inherited and acquired diseases, including genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis, haemophilia and many somatic diseases, such as tumours, neurodegenerative diseases and viral infections, such as AIDS. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Among a large array of non-viral transfection agents used for in-vitro applications, cationic SLNs are the topic of this review, being recently proposed as an alternative carrier for DNA delivery, due to many technological advantages such as large-scale production from substances generally recognized as safe, good storage stability and possibility of steam sterilization and lyophilisation. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: The authors give some information on the knowledge of intracellular trafficking and SLNs-DNA complex chemical-physical properties reported until now in the literature. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: The future success of cationic SLNs for administration of genetic material will depend on their ability to efficiently cross the physiological barriers, selectively targeting a specific cell type in vivo and expressing therapeutic genes.