Nucleic Acid Delivery across Biological Barriers

One of the current critical issues in nucleic acid delivery is the efficient mRNA delivery into target cells, directed toward clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) genome editing. To this end, we have developed a variety of cationic polyaspartamide derivatives with varying side chain structures because they can form nanocomplexes, termed polyplexes, with mRNA through electrostatic interactions. Interestingly, the delivery functions were highly affected by the chemical structures of the polyaspartamide side chains. Therefore, we review our previous research and provide a rationale for designing polypeptides for mRNA delivery.