Synthesis and application of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks-based nucleic acid delivery system in tumor diagnosis and therapy: a review

Cancer severely threatens human health, which makes it particularly urgent to develop effective strategies for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Gene therapy and nucleic acid-based cancer diagnosis play important roles in cancer theranostic, but their applicability is challenged by the low cellular uptake and enzymatic degradation. In response, safe and efficient carrier metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been proposed. Zeolite imidazole frameworks (ZIFs), a promising MOF type, can easily encapsulate negatively charged nucleic acid while offering a high loading efficiency, adjustable structure, and conditional responsiveness (pH, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), or glutathione (GSH)). In this review, we studied recent articles on nucleic acid-loading ZIFs-based nanoplatforms in tumor theranostics on the Pubmed database, with a focus on the synthesis and applications in tumor diagnosis and treatment. The relevant favorable aspects, potential challenges, and future opportunities are also discussed in this review.