Polymeric Biomaterials for RNA Therapeutics and Genetic Drug Delivery Applications
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 19
Special Issue Editors
Interests: liposomes; targeted drug delivery; controlled release; polymeric nanoparticles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: controlled release; protein delivery; targeted drug delivery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: drug delivery; hydrogels; pharmacokinetics and dynamics (PK/PD)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Polymers play a prominent role in the advancement of RNA therapeutics and genetic drug delivery due to their tailorable chemical structures, capacity for functionalization, and ability to overcome biological barriers. Polycationic materials such as polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly (β-amino esters) (PBAEs), chitosan, and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) have demonstrated ability in complexing with nucleic acids, protecting them from enzymatic degradation, and enhancing cellular uptake through nanoparticle formation and endosomal escape mechanisms.
Polymeric modifications allow researchers to maintain critical parameters such as molecular weight, charge density, hydrophilicity, and degradation kinetics that directly affect bioavailability, transfection efficiency, and biocompatibility. Lipid-modified PEI, when coated with anionic diblock copolymers like PEG–poly (L-glutamic acid) (PEG–PLE), forms stable nanoplexes that enable efficient CRISPR-Cas9 delivery with minimal cytotoxicity.
Beyond conventional approaches, stimuli-responsive polymers that degrade or undergo conformational changes in acidic endosomes or reductive cytosol environments offer precise, controlled, and site-specific nucleic acid release over time. PEGylation, pH-sensitive linkers, and thiol-responsive moieties have been incorporated into polymer backbones to enhance intracellular targetting and cytoplasmic release. Moreover, the integration of targeting ligands such as aptamers, peptides, and antibodies on polymer scaffolds improves biodistribution and reduces systemic side effects.
This Special Issue welcomes original research and review articles that explore the design, synthesis, and application of polymeric systems for RNA and gene therapy. We are particularly interested in contributions that achieve the following:
- Develop new polymer chemistries for nucleic acid complexation and release;
- Investigate structure–activity relationships and biophysical mechanisms;
- Address challenges in scale-up, regulatory translation, and immune safety;
- Propose innovative solutions to reproducibility and clinical delivery hurdles.
By integrating advances across materials science, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical sciences, this collection seeks to elucidate the pivotal role of polymer-based delivery platforms in driving the development and clinical translation of next-generation genetic therapeutics.
Dr. Jasmin Monpara
Dr. Pardeep K. Gupta
Dr. Gagan Kaushal
Guest Editors
Dr. Rijo John
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- polymeric biomaterials
- RNA delivery
- gene therapy
- mRNA therapeutics
- nanoparticle drug delivery
- siRNA/CRISPR delivery
- biodegradable polymers
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