Transdermal delivery for gene therapy

Parbeen Singh; I'jaaz Muhammad; Nicole E Nelson; Khanh T M Tran; Tra Vinikoor; Meysam T Chorsi; Ethan D'Orio; Thanh D Nguyen

doi:10.1007/s13346-022-01138-1

Transdermal delivery for gene therapy

Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2022 Nov;12(11):2613-2633. doi: 10.1007/s13346-022-01138-1. Epub 2022 May 10.

Authors

Parbeen Singh^#¹, I'jaaz Muhammad^#², Nicole E Nelson², Khanh T M Tran², Tra Vinikoor², Meysam T Chorsi^{1

2}, Ethan D'Orio^{2

3}, Thanh D Nguyen^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Advanced Manufacturing for Energy Systems, Storrs, USA.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA. nguyentd@uconn.edu.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA. nguyentd@uconn.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Gene therapy is a critical constituent of treatment approaches for genetic diseases and has gained tremendous attention. Treating and preventing diseases at the genetic level using genetic materials such as DNA or RNAs could be a new avenue in medicine. However, delivering genes is always a challenge as these molecules are sensitive to various enzymes inside the body, often produce systemic toxicity, and suffer from off-targeting problems. In this regard, transdermal delivery has emerged as an appealing approach to enable a high efficiency and low toxicity of genetic medicines. This review systematically summarizes outstanding transdermal gene delivery methods for applications in skin cancer treatment, vaccination, wound healing, and other therapies.

Keywords: DNA; Gene therapy; Microneedles; Transdermal delivery; mRNA; miRNA; siRNA.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Administration, Cutaneous
Drug Delivery Systems* / methods
Genetic Therapy / methods
Needles*
Skin