Nanoparticle-mediated delivery of small RNA molecules in tumor therapy.

In principle, RNA interference (RNAi) allows for the inhibition of any oncogene of choice, thus leading to novel concepts in tumor therapy. For their delivery, the RNAi-inducing small RNA molecules (small interfering RNAs, siRNAs) can be formulated in various nanoparticle systems, prior to testing them in preclinical animal models. The same is true for miRNAs that have more recently been explored in therapeutic miRNA replacement strategies. This puts high demands on the properties of the nanoparticles. This review article discusses various nanoparticulate systems for RNA delivery in vivo and gives an overview of preclinical studies on siRNA- or miRNA-based tumor therapy.