A system has been engineered for temporally controlled delivery of siRNA from biodegradable tissue regenerative scaffolds. Therapeutic application of this approach to silence prolyl hydroxylase domain 2 promoted expression of pro-angiogenic genes controlled by HIF1α and enhanced scaffold vascularization in vivo. This technology provides a new standard for efficient and controllable gene silencing to modulate host response within regenerative biomaterials.
Keywords: controlled release; gene knockdown; reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, endosomolytic nanoparticles, injectable scaffolds.