CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing strategy for cancer therapy: non-viral nanocarrier-mediated delivery of plasmids, RNA and ribonucleoprotein complexes.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) gene editing systems are among the most prevalent tools in modern genetic research and have been extensively studied in the context of cancer therapy. CRISPR/Cas9 systems can be categorized into three main delivery forms: plasmid DNA (pDNA) containing both Cas9 and guide RNA (sgRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA) of Cas9 along with sgRNA, and ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes consisting of Cas9 protein bound to sgRNA. This article will review the various CRISPR/Cas9 systems, focusing on the non-viral especially nanocarrier delivery strategies and common protocols used for their delivery and the challenges encountered during this process. This review will offer guidance on the potential applications of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology for the treatment of malignant tumors in the future.