Exploring metal-organic frameworks in gene delivery: From prostate to lung therapeutics

Surfing the literature demonstrates that the emergence of gene delivery systems revolutionized the advancements in therapeutic interventions. These systems, broadly categorized as viral and non-viral vectors, offer distinct advantages. Although viral vectors exhibit high transfection efficiency, non-viral vectors present opportunities for customization and enhanced biosafety, making them versatile platforms for reliable gene delivery. In the case of non-viral vectors, nanotechnology has introduced transformative possibilities, specially by nanoparticle-based approaches. This comprehensive review focuses on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as a main subset of non-viral nanocarriers with the purpose of gene delivery. MOFs, are well known due to their tunable structures and diverse functionalities, have garnered attention as a result of their adaptability in biomedical applications. Their unique characteristics like versatile chemical compositions, tunable pore sizes, and high surface/volume ratios, makes MOFs as reliable candidates as targeted gene delivery carriers which ensure biocompatibility besides high therapeutic encapsulation efficiency. This review explores the MOFs' potential in gene delivery, emphasizing their comparative merits in comparison with other nanocarriers. The present article explores various aspects such as in vivo targeted delivery assessments, and MOFs' role in combination therapy. It is tried that each section comprehensively coverage the title and provide a coherent framework for underscoring MOFs' impact in advancing gene delivery strategies.